The Beguile and Devotion of a Black Heir
by StarLight Massacre
Summary: A chance meeting for Harry sets him on a path he wasn't meant to travel. With his eyes opened and the struggle to control the anger inside of him at all of the lies and hidden agendas, a sudden adoption and unlikely allies work to split him from Dumbledore. With two Lordships and new duties, how will the world react to Lord Potter-Black when he refuses to fight in their war?
1. Enlightenment

Author: StarLight Massacre

Title: The Beguile and Devotion of a Black Heir

Rating: R

Warning: Slash, explicit language, mentions of blood, torture and violence in future chapters, Mpreg.

Pairing: Rabastan Lestrange/Harry Potter

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Harry Potter; all rights go to J. K. Rowling. I make no money for this piece of fictional writing and never will.

Summary: A chance meeting for Harry sets him on a path he was never meant to travel. With his eyes opened and the struggle to control the anger inside of him at all of the lies and hidden agendas, a sudden adoption and unlikely allies work to split him from Dumbledore forever. With two Lordships and new responsibilities, how will the Wizarding world react to Lord Harry James Potter-Black, especially when he declares that he won't fight in their war?

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><p><span>The Beguile and Devotion of a Black Heir<span>

Chapter One - Enlightenment

Harry rolled over the side of his small, narrow bed until he was sitting up, his eyes darting around the room frantically as he gasped raggedly for breath, his heart beating a mile a minute as he tried to calm himself down.

He swallowed back the acidic bile that was climbing its way up his constricting throat, his Uncle would be absolutely furious if he actually vomited on any floor of his house. Not to mention that it would likely be him cleaning it all up after he'd been shouted at and sprayed with saliva for an hour. Not a thought he relished.

He was drenched in a cold sweat that made him shiver uncontrollably even as he furiously kicked the thin, tangled blanket that he had covered himself with last night from his body, ripping it from where it was pinned underneath himself, despite the fact that it made him shiver harder. He swallowed hard past a fear clogged throat and breathed slowly, in through his nose and out through his mouth, his mind racing around the nightmare that he'd been forced to suffer through.

Dragging a hand over his face to get rid of the chilling sweat, Harry's hand found its way up to his damp hair, the messy tufts sticking up even more than normal through the amount of sweat he'd produced that had slicked it in all angles while he'd tossed and turned, caught in the nightmare that he'd been unable to wake from.

The reoccurring, horrific dream had been about Sirius, his beloved Godfather, who had died just days before the end of the last school year, only a few short weeks ago, and the memories of it, the emotions he felt, were still so raw and painful. He swallowed and stood up from where he was sat on the side of the bed, he had to get out of this house, he had to get out, being trapped and locked up in this house with his disgusting, hateful relatives was driving him insane, but he'd been told inexplicitly that he was not allowed to leave the safety of Privet Drive by Dumbledore at the end of the last year. He had also seen for himself the guard that he had continuously around the clock, more than likely Order of the Phoenix people, who were always watching the house, always watching him and likely reporting every single move and sound that he made back to Dumbledore.

Harry wondered how heavy his night guard was when they logically thought that he was in his bed, fast asleep. He kicked open his trunk and dug out some clean clothes, dressing himself quickly before grabbing his wand and his money pouch, making sure that he had his Gringotts vault key in his pocket twice, just in case.

He needed to get out of here, out of this horrid, clinical, hateful house, just for a few hours, a bit of retail therapy around Diagon Alley, having a bit of exposure to the magical world that he'd all but been cut off from, and he'd feel less trapped, less enclosed, he was sure.

He slipped his peeling trainers onto his feet, both socks had holes in them, and he cracked open his bedroom door. His Uncle had stopped locking him in when Harry had 'casually' mentioned that he had a guard watching him at all hours, day and night.

Harry first went into Dudley's bedroom. His cousin's snoring was so loud that Harry didn't even bother being quiet as he crossed the large bedroom to his cousin's dresser. He eased open the top drawer and snatched a few of the notes lying scrumpled up inside. He didn't take too many, if he had taken them all then Dudley would have known, but if he only took a few then Dudley wouldn't even notice them missing, which was sad as Harry would have given anything for a few pennies as a child, even if he couldn't have spent them, he could have still played with them and known that he had _something_ of monetary value, even if it was just a penny.

Harry walked back out of Dudley's room and slipped down the stairs, he knew logically that his guard wouldn't be sat on the doorstep or behind his Aunt's begonia bushes; they were more likely going to be in the corner of the front garden, where the two garden walls met, where they weren't likely to be found or accidentally trodden on and they'd be under one of Moody's invisibility cloaks so they wouldn't be seen by anyone who cared to look into his relatives front garden. Harry easily outsmarted them, he went out of the back door and fence hopped over the Dursley's fence, over the neighbour's fence, going around Wisteria Walk, thus avoiding Mrs Arabella Figg, not that he expected her to be up at five in the morning, but it was better to be cautious, just in case and he set off in the direction of Surrey town.

The only thing that could ruin his break for freedom now would be if it was Moody himself who was on guard tonight, thus he'd probably have his magical eye trained on him, but he'd gotten this far already, so he hoped that it wasn't Moody on guard duty tonight. He really needed this moment of freedom.

Harry slipped down Magnolia Road and past the park and revelled in the early morning air. He was feeling better already and the lingering effects of his reoccurring nightmares that had been plaguing him for the last month were eased away with the fresh air. He couldn't believe that he was out in the open and as he walked further and further away from Privet Drive, he found his breath coming easier and more steady from the attack of emotions that had woken him up early that morning. Pain, fear and horror had grown and grown inside of him as he tossed and turned in his dreams until he had woken like a shot, only to be confronted with the lingering emotions and the pain of his reality.

He still couldn't believe that Sirius was gone, his last official family member and he had nothing to remember him by, just a few memories and his beloved Firebolt which he took excessively good care of. He treated it at least once a week and waxed it until he was sure he would slide right off of it if he were to actually fly it, but the polished ebony handle gleamed in the light, he made sure to buff the goblin made iron work on the frame until his elbows ached and it always looked utterly pristine with not a birch tail twig out of place. Every time he so much as looked at it he would smile and he could see Sirius and he would remember that Sirius had bought this for him, he had touched it and he had wanted him to have it. It helped him feel closer to the memory of the man that he could no longer see, touch or talk to.

It was nearing quarter past six in the morning when he made it to Surrey town from his leisurely walk and he went into the nearest open café and got himself a coffee. Sirius had always drank coffee, from morning until night, Harry hardly ever saw him drinking anything else when he actually had a choice in the matter, and when Harry had asked why he drank so much of it his Godfather had let out that bark like laugh that always made Harry smile and told him that it was to keep himself awake and functioning.

His ordered coffee was hot and bitter, despite how much sugar he'd put into it, but he forced it down and went to the train station, he was going to stay in London for as long as he possibly could and he was going to need the coffee to keep himself awake while he shopped. He hadn't been getting a lot of sleep lately, so he was going to need a lot of coffee.

* * *

><p>An hour later found Harry in central London. The train ride had taken him just forty minutes and he remembered exactly how to get from the train station to Diagon Alley from his trip with Hagrid when he was eleven. He was tapping bricks before eight in the morning and he couldn't believe how good he felt just being out in the open air and really, it just felt better because he'd been told that he wasn't allowed to leave the Dursleys house. He was done with being told what to do, how dare anyone think that they knew what was best for him! He knew himself and he knew what was best for himself better than anyone else and he would not allow others to push him around just because they believed that they had the right to.<p>

He came into Diagon Alley as it was still quiet and sleepy, shops were only just open and there were yawning witches and wizards here or there, but the bustle of the last months of the summer was not here, not at this hour of the morning, not yet.

Harry went to a small, out of the way eatery, Harry wanted to call it a café, but it was just too small, it had just three, two seater tables and one small stretch of counter and a tired old man yawning behind it on a firm, solid and padded chair.

"Good morning." Harry said cautiously.

"What's so damned good about it?" The old man grumbled, but he smiled at him regardless.

"I suppose I deserved that." He allowed wryly.

"Ignore me; I'm a grumpy old man with too many pains and not enough potions to cover them all. What can I do you for?"

"I was looking for a place to have a drink and maybe something to eat while I wait for Gringotts to open for business." Harry answered.

"Come in then, what do you prefer to drink?"

"I believe I need some toast and I think I need coffee to stay awake this early. I tried some earlier and it wasn't all that nice."

"First time? Coffee's an acquired taste, much like Firewhiskey. The more you drink it, the more you fool your brain into liking it."

Harry laughed as he pulled a chair up to the counter and sat opposite the man, who merely waved his wand and clinking and tinkering sounded from the room through a door behind him.

"Don't think I don't know who you are, everyone knows Harry Potter, even if you age and grow, that scar will always be there. What business can you have at Gringotts, unless you mean to claim your Lordship early? Most little Lords do you know."

"What Lordship?" Harry asked curiously as he took a cautionary sip of the deep mug that had landed in front of him, it was strong and sweet and much better than the coffee flavoured sugar water he'd bought that morning. He was never going back to that coffee shop again.

"Your Father was Lord James Potter, his Father was Lord Charlus Potter before him, surely you have been told this?"

Harry shook his head as he nibbled on his lightly browned toast. It was buttered just the way he liked it.

"I don't understand why you haven't been told, it is your birth right after all, you should have at least been told and taught about what it entails, even if you are too young to claim it without a special request from the goblins."

"What is a Lordship?" Harry asked curiously.

"All Pureblood families have a Lordship, a seat on the Wizengamot and a voice in the Ministry, surely you know this?"

Harry shook his head with a frown. "I don't know any of this, there's nothing about this at Hogwarts."

"They won't tell you in school, school is for general learning and only a single handful in that school will even have a little Lord who will claim their Father's Lordship upon his death. Who is your guardian? He should have told you all about this."

"My guardians are Muggles."

"Not those guardians!" The man snapped impatiently. "Your guardian in the wizarding world."

"I…I don't think I have one." Harry said with a frown.

"Of course you do, all little Lords have a guardian if their parents have passed. They need one to tell them about all the things they need to know; the running of their house, their responsibilities in the Ministry and the Wizengamot, how to manage their family and their finances, that sort of stuff."

"I've never met mine." Harry said thinking hard.

"You must have. It's usually a Godparent, though I heard of the mess with yours, anyone could have lain claim to you as theirs after that, though I believe someone would have stopped just anyone from claiming you, as special as you are, so I believe the Headmaster of your school would have taken over, that spineless Minister for Magic, Fudge wouldn't have stood up to or stopped him, so Dumbledore should have told you all of this."

Harry frowned hard, trying to remember if Dumbledore had said anything about him being a Lord, or his Father being a Lord. He was sure he would have remembered being told that he would one day be a Lord. But then surely Sirius would have told him about this as his Godfather, or at least mentioned it to him, but then Sirius hadn't been in his right mind and half of the very short, limited time they had actually spent together they'd been getting to know one another after Sirius' wrongful imprisonment which didn't leave much time for such…seemingly, trivial things.

"I would remember being told such things." Harry said softly. "No one has ever so much as mentioned it to me."

"Then someone somewhere has done you a grave insult and a serious injustice too. That someone would have his arse parked in your seat on the Wizengamot."

"Are people allowed to hold two seats?"

"They can only have two seats if they're the Lord of two houses, very rarely that happens, those Purebloods always make sure that they have an Heir to pass their seat to and failing that there's always a lesser male Heir to take the seat, though if the Heir is also the only child to another Pureblood family, they could then claim two seats when their Father passes his Lordship onto his son."

"Doesn't Dumbledore have his own seat? Isn't he the Chief Warlock or something, why would he need my seat too?"

"Who says he needs it?" The old man grunted. "Could be he just doesn't want you in it."

"But why?" Harry said with a considering frown.

"I say ask the goblins, they'll sort you out, but only if you ask for their help, vile beasts that they are, they won't do anything for anyone unless they beg like a common Muggle, but they're still very shrewd and they're always willing to help for a price."

Harry scowled at hearing the man calling the goblins vile beasts, but he said nothing. This man had helped him and Harry knew all too well the views that some people in the magical world held of what they considered as 'lesser beings.' It disgusted him, but just this once, he held his tongue.

"Thank you for the advice." Harry said as he handed the last few Galleons in his money pouch to the old man. "And for the toast and coffee too, but you've given me a lot to think about and I really need to see the goblins now, for more than what I bargained for it seems."

"You tell them that you want to claim your Lordship early, they won't do squat all if you don't turn around and tell them what to do and then you get yourself to Flourish and Blotts and get yourself books on Lordships to help you."

Harry nodded his understanding and he waved away the few silver Sickles that the man tried to hand him as he left. He really did have a lot to think about and now that he had a real agenda for being here today, he strode purposefully towards the bank, for more than just the quick withdrawal from his vault that he'd been planning on earlier that morning. He'd only wanted to do a bit of shopping and get some retail therapy done, why did these things always happen to him?

* * *

><p>He was sat in an office, it was quite bare really, but he was here to 'validate his claim' whatever the hell that meant, maybe he should have gone to Flourish and Blotts first, but then he wasn't the fastest of readers and he only had today to do this, he had no doubts that the end of month rush for school supplies would leave him very little time to do much other than to actually get just his school supplies. It would be too busy and too hectic to do anything else and with the Weasleys watching over him like a hawk and Ron always trailing after him too, this would likely be his only chance to get this sort of thing done.<p>

He'd done as the man in the small café had told him to do, he'd told the goblins why he was there and what he wanted, as politely and respectfully as he could manage. Just because he had to tell them that he wanted something, didn't mean he had to do it rudely or disrespectfully, especially as he had a very high respect for the goblins.

His leg was bouncing nervously as he waited and he couldn't seem to help thinking that he'd made a mistake, what if the old man had been wrong or was just playing him for a fool? What if he wasn't a Lord at all? After all he'd never heard of anyone in the wizarding world being a Lord, surely if all Purebloods were Lords then Malfoy would have at least tried to rub his nose in it.

Before he could really work himself up the door opened and he jumped as a particularly gruesome looking goblin waddled in and slammed the door shut again before climbing onto the chair behind the desk.

"You wish to claim your Lordship early, I hear. What makes you think that you deserve it early?" The goblin demanded of him.

Harry blinked and rubbed his sweaty palms on his ripped and worn, far too big, baggy jeans.

"I…I don't know. I didn't know anything about it an hour ago." Harry explained nervously.

The goblin reared back and blinked in shock.

"You weren't told?" He demanded angrily.

Harry shook his head. "A stranger told me that I should come here and claim my Lordship, but before then I had no idea about it."

Snarling, the goblin snapped his fingers harshly and loudly, making Harry flinch. Nothing happened to him, but a large pile of parchment appeared on the desk and the goblin completely ignored Harry in order to read through the stack in front of him.

Bewildered, nervous and not entirely sure he should have mentioned anything, Harry sat restlessly opposite the goblin and his leg started bouncing again, but he also started getting angry, that small build-up of cold fury he'd been getting every now and then, ever since Sirius had died a few weeks before. He'd only felt this cold rage a few times before then and all of those times had happened during the last year and had been to do with Voldemort. He tried to calm himself, getting angry at the goblins would yield nothing, except perhaps get him thrown out of the bank, wouldn't that be a lovely spectacle for the people on the street? Not to mention the office building for the Daily Prophet newspaper was just around the corner.

He breathed as evenly and deeply as he could, trying to dispel the rage that he felt growing inside of him, his knee jumping more vigorously as he bounced it harder against the floor.

"Your guardian is one, Albus Dumbledore. Is this information correct?" The goblin said suddenly, startling Harry.

"I…yes…I don't know." Harry bumbled. "The stranger told me that Dumbledore was my guardian, but I wasn't told that before either, I thought he was just my Headmaster. I didn't know what a magical guardian was."

The goblin bared his teeth and stood up and left. Harry wasn't sure what he was supposed to do so he just sat where he had been left, bouncing his foot against the floor. He couldn't believe this was happening; he'd only come here for a quick withdrawal, but one short meeting with a complete stranger had him here for other reasons and now he was stuck, floundering, unsure of anything and everything that was happening around him, despite these happenings being about himself.

The door slammed open once more and the goblin came back into the room and sat back behind his desk, snatching up more parchment and reading angrily, flipping pages over to read those underneath it.

"What's happening?" Harry asked quietly, even though he wanted to shout, scream and rage, demanding answers from the goblin in front of him.

"I have contacted the Ministry and have informed them of this case of Lordship neglect, they are sending one of the Lords involved in the Wizardry Protection Movement. We will proceed once he has arrived."

"What's that?" Harry asked curiously.

The goblin gave him such a look that Harry regretted ever opening his mouth.

"Do you have no idea of anything of the world in which you are a part of?" The goblin demanded furiously.

"I…" Harry swallowed and shook his head. "No. I don't know anything about this sort of stuff, I was never told and it's not taught at Hogwarts."

The goblin snorted. "That's a surprise." He said nastily, but he countered his harsh tone and sneer by grabbing a small piece of memo parchment and scrawling a list on it. "Buy these books and read them carefully, repeatedly if you must." He all but ordered and all Harry could do was nod.

A sharp knock on the door had the goblin barking out an order for whoever it was to enter. Harry leapt to his feet when a pristine and regal looking Lucius Malfoy walked through the door.

"What's he doing here?" He all but snarled.

Lucius Malfoy raised a perfect, platinum blond eyebrow. He was wearing glorious robes in resplendent dark blue and every stitch screamed wealth and propriety as his usual snake headed cane, which concealed his wand, was held in a gloved hand and even they weren't simple gloves, but made from high quality dragonhide, dyed a blue that perfectly matched his robes of the day.

"I happen to be the lucky wizard chosen to come and enlighten you as to your role in our world, Mister Potter." Lucius told him silkily. "As a founding member of the Wizardry Protection Movement it is my sworn duty to help young wizards who are struggling to come to terms with Pureblood etiquette and the running and ruling of their house."

"What house?" Harry asked with narrowed eyes. As far as he knew he didn't have any houses.

Lucius Malfoy sighed. "I understand now why you asked for assistance, Nagnok. Do you know anything about your heritage, Mister Potter?"

"What heritage?" Harry asked, deflating a little, but he kept his hand on his wand.

"Sit down." Lucius ordered as he sat in the second chair gracefully. "We are going to be here for a long while I imagine."

Harry carefully eased himself into the seat beside Lucius Malfoy, but he remained on guard, he was burning with curiosity, but not enough to forget that this man was dangerous, though he hoped he knew the man enough to know that he wouldn't attack him in a bank, even if they were in a private office. Lucius Malfoy cared for his public appearance after all and had been deeply embarrassed when Mister Weasley had attacked him in Flourish and Blotts four years ago now.

"How much do you know about Lordships?" Lucius asked him.

Harry shrugged. "Nothing, a stranger told me that I should come to claim my Lordship, so that's what I did."

Lucius sighed, Harry watched him closely as he put his cane down, he noticed with curiosity that Malfoy had put the cane down on the table in front of him, but the snake head, and thus his wand, was aimed at him and as Malfoy tugged his gloves off of long, nimble fingers, Harry wondered why the man had put his wand out of his immediate reach. He would be able to draw his wand on the elder man before Malfoy even touched the snake head of the cane…was that perhaps why he had done such a thing? As ridiculous as it sounded, the only reason Harry could think of was that Lucius Malfoy was trying to put him at ease and give him subtle signs to show that he wasn't going to just up and attack him in the bank.

"So you believed this stranger, who just wandered up to you and blurted out that you should come and claim a Lordship that you had never heard about and you just did what he asked?"

It was Harry's turn to sigh. "No. I was having coffee with him while I waited for the bank to open this morning and he wanted to know why I was in Diagon so early, so I told him I was coming here and he asked me if it was to claim my Lordship early. The conversation went from there."

"We need to validate your claim, but you are underage so we need the permission of your guardian first before we can proceed."

"My guardians are Muggles and wouldn't even come here under threat of death and Dumbledore was the one who was supposed to tell me about this stuff in the first place and he didn't." Harry said heatedly.

"He has a fair point, Nagnok, perhaps I should stand in as his guardian, after all, I am a founding member of the Wizardry Protective Movement, it is my duty to help and protect young wizards, to educate them. That Mister Potter doesn't even know about his own Lordship is very neglectful, think of the power and influence that Dumbledore gains from holding Mister Potter's proper titles from him…why, it is almost criminal."

The goblin nodded and snapped his fingers once again and a box appeared in front of him. He opened it and took out an empty vial and one filled with a strange liquid.

"I will need your blood."

"Excuse me?" Harry asked, his brows lowering.

"Blood never lies." The goblin told him. "Potions can be messed with, appearances may not be what they seem, mannerisms can be learnt, but blood never lies."

"Simply prick your finger and place a few drops of blood into the empty vial." Lucius Malfoy told him smoothly.

Harry looked at him strangely. "How do I make myself bleed?"

"Surely you know the charm to make a small cut? What is Hogwarts teaching you children these days?"

Harry went red cheeked and silently fumed. He startled when the snake headed cane vanished just on the edge of his vision and he heard Malfoy sigh before his hand was snatched by one of those long fingered, pale hands and Malfoy had his wand out in his other hand. Before Harry could so much as react or give him a good kick, the tip of his index finger was split open with a small, three centimetre long cut and Malfoy caught the small flow of blood into the empty vial before another simple charm healed his finger again perfectly, not so much as a red mark to show where the cut had been moments before.

Harry fumed silently as he stuck his finger into his mouth to suck off the remaining blood. Malfoy scowled at him, he was holding out a square of cloth, a handkerchief, but he slipped it back into his pocket as Harry glared at him defiantly, still sucking the traces of blood off of his healed skin. Harry wasn't that stupid, he wasn't giving his blood to Malfoy of all people.

He watched suspiciously as Malfoy inserted his wand back into the cane and clunked it back onto the desk; the snake head was again facing Harry.

He turned back to the goblin who had mixed the strange liquid in the second vial with his blood before shaking it vigorously and then tapping it with the tip of his finger, which he then tapped on a piece of large parchment.

Harry watched in fascination as runes started spreading out over the parchment, he wished he could read them. The goblin, Nagnok, then uncorked the vial and tipped it over the parchment and Harry was amazed when it started forming letters and then words.

"Harry James Potter, born in July of nineteen-eighty to James Doran Potter and Lily Potter née Evans." Nagnok read out questioningly.

Harry bobbed his head. "That's right."

"You were legitimised on the twenty-sixth of September nineteen-eighty, correct?"

"Legitimised? What does that mean?" Harry asked, looking from Nagnok to Malfoy in confusion.

"Your Father wanted you to have the Potter Lordship, which he couldn't have given to you if you had remained a Halfblood, so he had you legitimised by naming an appropriate Pureblood as your Godfather." Lucius replied smoothly. "If you marry an appropriate Pureblood, then the Potter line will remain in the Pureblood Directory, if you marry someone who isn't a Pureblood, then the Potter family will be taken from the Directory and your children will be unable to claim your Lordship when you pass and it will fall into the hands of the Ministry unless you declare your seat voided."

"What if I name a Pureblood as their Godfather?" Harry asked thinking of Ron.

"As you yourself are not fully pure and your spouse will not be pure either, then your children cannot be legitimised whereas if you marry a Pureblood, you may then be allowed to legitimise all children you have to claim them as Pureblooded, the lines of the Potter family will remain unbroken, they will be bent a little due to your Muggleborn Mother, but still legally pure as she was still a witch and not a squib or a Muggle."

Harry's head spun with all this new information and he nodded his understanding. He wasn't planning on marrying anyone for a long while, so he had time to figure out how important this Lordship was and if he wanted to pass it down to his maybe children.

"Why does me being legitimised show up on a blood test?" Harry asked instead.

"To fully legitimise you, your chosen Godfather would have given his blood to you, so his blood, which was pure, would run through your veins to a lesser extent than your parents' blood, to make up for your Mother's impure blood, but it is still picked up by the blood test administered."

Harry nodded again.

"With the recent passing of the Black Heir, Sirius, who was named your Godfather on the twenty-sixth of September fifteen years ago, you also have the most legal claim to the Black Lordship."

Harry felt Lucius Malfoy stiffen beside him and his hand slid down further to touch his wand handle instead of merely hovering over it, just in case.

"Would you claim this as well?"

"I don't even know what they are." Harry sighed exasperated.

"I would advise you to claim them both." Malfoy told him, completely surprising Harry. "Draco is a candidate for the Black Lordship through his Mother's side, but as Black's actual blood runs through your veins as his Godson, you are the closest thing to an actual son that he had before his passing. Draco needs to focus on his studies more, I fear a Lordship would be…ill-suited to him at the moment."

"Why not just let him have it?" Harry asked curiously, wondering why the hell Malfoy was passing this opportunity over. "It must be a huge honour from what the man in the café was saying for someone to have one Lordship, let alone two."

"It is, but it is yours by rights and I would prefer that Draco focused more on his studies. He is already very distracted lately, it seems he spends more and more time with his little friends than he does studying and his subject grades are…declining."

"He and Pansy were getting very close last year, a Ravenclaw swore she saw them coming out of a broom cupboard all mussed up."

Lucius Malfoy's eyes widened slightly and his nostrils flared, but that was the only outward sign he gave that he'd even heard Harry.

"How would you know of these things?" He asked smoothly, seemingly unable to ignore the conversation now that it had started playing on his mind.

"Things like that don't stay a secret at Hogwarts. There were stories too about Pansy taking early morning visits to Madam Pomfrey; apparently she'd had a pregnancy scare."

That got Harry the tightening of a fist and he saw the visible effort it took the elegant man opposite him to keep from immediately standing and leaving to chase down Draco and demand the truth from him.

"Thank you for informing me of this behaviour, I'll be sure to correct Draco of his wrong doing and inform Lord Parkinson of his daughter's behaviours and advise that she has a purity test done, such loose, sleazy behaviour is beneath Purebloods. Her betrothal match will reflect her behaviour accordingly."

"Draco isn't the worst, just the most sought after. Blaise Zabini is the worst; he'll sleep with anything that so much as moves."

"If we could get back on track." The goblin demanded.

"So I'd have two Lordships, the Potter and the Black?" Harry questioned after a long silence. "Why did no one tell me this before?! No one has so much as mentioned it in passing to me, not even Sirius."

"They obviously didn't want you to know." Lucius told him simply. "All of the sacred Pureblood families have a seat on the Wizengamot; did it never occur to you to ask why Dumbledore, a Halfblood, was the Chief Warlock when he had no rights to a seat?"

"No." Harry replied easily.

Lucius sighed. "Dumbledore is using your own seat to preside from, in your name of course. If you claimed your Lordship, he'd have to…step aside, to make room for you. I don't believe that he'd enjoy relinquishing such power and then to have a new Chief Warlock voted in, one that perhaps won't be deep in his pocket and willing to play puppet to him. After all, nearly every person on the Wizengamot is Pureblooded; only certain exceptions are made, as the Heads of all _reputable_ departments also have a Wizengamot seat."

"So he's sat in the seat that I should be in? Who has the Black seat?"

"It's currently being held by Dumbledore too as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, fancy that." Lucius sneered. "Two seats that you should have control over are being presided over by him and he didn't even tell you about them."

Harry's hand clenched tight as the fury rose in him again. Even if he didn't know what to do with his two seats, he didn't want Dumbledore to have them. It would serve him right for locking him back up with the Dursleys after Sirius' death and ordering him not to leave the house and ordering him not to send out any owls or for his friends to send any to him.

"I want to claim my Lordship, both of them." He said firmly.

Nagnok nodded. "We will set this up for you, for a fee of course."

"I think I have enough in my vault to pay a fee, I don't think I'll spend all that gold on school things when I only have two more years left."

"What do you mean?" Lucius asked him carefully.

"The vault I have here, I think there's more than enough gold in there to see me through the next two years of schooling and to pay a fee."

Lucius sighed. "This is much worse than I feared. I take it that no one has told you the difference between house vaults and trust vaults."

Harry frowned. "I…no."

"The vault that you are using now would be a trust vault, money laid aside for your use by your parents. Your Father, as Lord Potter, would have had control of the house vault, which would be considerably larger than a mere trust vault, he would then lay aside trust vaults for all those in his house and supply the trust vault with a sum of money, he could choose a lump sum or he could choose to top it up weekly, monthly or yearly with a fixed sum for however many years he wished to, which would then be taken from the main house vault. With his death and with you being so young, that vault would have been sealed off until you either came of age or claimed your Lordship."

Harry swallowed hard. He felt sick to his very stomach. "No one told me that either."

"After fifty years have passed and no one has claimed them, then anything inside the vault goes to the Ministry. The Potter vault has been sealed now for fifteen years already; I can't begin to imagine the amount of interest that that has stacked up over the last decade and a half."

"It is a substantial amount." Nagnok nodded. "Lord Potter and his Lady Wife rarely touched the house vault and Lord Potter chose to deposit a lump sum into a trust vault for his son. I believe they only took out what they needed for food and small items and Lord Charlus and his Lady Wife left their son a vast amount to begin with after their untimely passing. If we add in the considerable Black family vault too, which has been sealed for eleven years after the passing of Lady Walburga Black, then you are a very wealthy young wizard."

"Sirius was using his bank vault." Harry pointed out confusedly.

"Sirius was the rightful Heir, but he never claimed his Lordship after his Father passed away and neither did he claim the house vault after his Mother passed away six years later." Lucius told him patiently. "I believe he was still using his more than considerable trust vault."

"Oh." Harry felt overwhelmed and a little shocky.

"I understand that this is a lot to take in." Lucius told him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Harry reacted violently and he all but shoved the man's hand off of him.

"Don't touch me. You have no right to touch me!" Harry shouted, his mind flashing to the events of the graveyard and those of the Department of Mysteries, where Sirius had died that night.

"As you wish." Lucius said silkily. "If we could hurry this meeting along, Nagnok."

"Of course, Lord Malfoy. Now that we have validated who you actually are and that you are Harry James Potter, Heir to the Potter and Black families, we can now start the claiming process."

"What do I need to do?"

"This will disrupt your education." Lucius cut in. "Meetings can be called at any time of day, though we do tend to wait until the next morning if a situation occurs in the night, unless it is gravely urgent of course and cannot wait, but you will be given your Lordship rings and when they heat up, you are to make your way straight to the Ministry for a meeting, one that cannot start until everyone called arrives. Your professors cannot stop you from going to these meetings, but likewise you will not be allowed to slack off on your education, you will have to work doubly hard at your studies than everyone else in that school."

Harry nodded his understanding, he was sure that Hermione would be thrilled if he started taking more interest in his studies.

"Okay."

"Can you handle such a workload?"

"What does being on the Wizengamot actually entail?"

"You will need to give your vote to laws and proclamations that you feel should or shouldn't be passed; you will need to pass judgement on criminals brought before the Wizengamot based on the reports we are given and the trials we witness and discuss matters brought before the Wizengamot by members of the public, among other things."

"So it's all of our own opinions?" Harry asked a bit relieved.

"There are certain politics to be observed as well." Lucius told him. "For example, Bellatrix Lestrange is a daughter of house Black, Lord Orion Black, when he was living, couldn't go against Lord Xerxes Lestrange without damaging his daughter's union to one of Lord Lestrange's grandsons."

"So it's all political rubbish to do with marriage and stuff?" Harry pulled a face of distaste.

Lucius smiled. "My Wife is a daughter of house Black as well; you are the new Lord Black."

"I won't be deferring to anyone." Harry said stubbornly. "If you don't like your Wife now after all these years and with Draco too then that's your problem and I couldn't give a fuck about Bellatrix having a happy union, she can go die for all I care."

Lucius actually chuckled and nodded to Nagnok. "Let us wrap this up, Nagnok and then I can take Mister Potter to buy the books that he needs."

"I have all of the legal documents here, fully written out."

"When did you do that?" Harry asked in amazement.

"When you first asked to claim your Lordship earlier this morning." Nagnok replied as if Harry were particularly stupid.

"Now now, Mister Potter is quite ignorant of all of these proceedings, we need to be patient with him."

The goblin nodded and snapped his fingers and a stack of parchment appeared before him.

"You just need to sign here."

Lucius' hand intercepted his as he went to pick up a very familiar black quill with an abnormally sharp point.

"Never sign anything without reading it first, you stupid boy." Lucius chastised him. "What if you didn't like the terms? What if the other party have verbally agreed to do something that isn't in the formal document? What if you are signing away everything you own on the trust you hold for someone that you've known for all of five minutes? Read everything before you sign it, even from someone you trust and have known for sixty years, even if it's your own Wife or child. You _always_ read everything before you sign it."

Harry swallowed and nodded, feeling very foolish, but he picked up the first page from the large stack of parchment and he started reading it slowly and carefully. He had never been a fast reader.

It took him an hour before he finally finished the last page and he felt very self-conscious and embarrassed that he'd kept Lucius Malfoy and a Gringotts goblin waiting quietly for a whole hour while he read through everything, trying his hardest to understand it.

"Did you understand half of what you read?" Lucius asked him knowingly.

Harry shook his head, feeling even more humiliated, but he saw no point in lying. He hadn't understood a lot of what he had read on those pages. Lucius hummed and Harry only just noticed then that as he had put a page down, Lucius had picked it up to read it.

"This is all in order, nothing I didn't expect." He said. "You're free to sign if you're willing to accept full Lordship for both the Potter and the Black houses and responsibility for both house vaults, all trust vaults attached to them and responsibility for all patrons connected to your houses."

"Will…will you find me a book that helps me understand the things that I didn't know? Just in case I need to do something like this again in the future." Harry forced himself to ask, feeling sick with himself just for asking something of this person, but Malfoy had offered him no aggression or violence, he was just sat there, helping him. It galled him.

"Of course I will." Lucius agreed amiably.

Harry picked up the quill and scowled at it, his hand clenching around it tight.

"This quill will be unlike anything that you have ever used before." Lucius told him. "It is used for signing official documents only and it will draw blood from you as you write. As you've likely figured out, blood is very important to magic, so naturally all legal, binding, magical contracts are signed in blood."

"I have used a quill like this before, last year." Harry said grumpily.

"I fail to understand how." Nagnok said. "Only Gringotts and the Heads of each department at the Ministry of Magic are allowed to even have one of them. There are only a handful of them in use at any one time. The loss of one is punishable by a hefty fine and even suspension and loss of position at the Ministry of Magic. One has not been lost in several decades, nor has one of these quills been given to Hogwarts school. They are heavily regulated and all of them are tracked regularly to make sure that they are where they're supposed to be and with the person that they're supposed to be with."

"What did you sign with one of these quills? Was it for Dumbledore?" Lucius asked him a bit frantic.

Harry frowned at them both. "No. Umbridge."

"What did you sign for that woman?" Lucius demanded. "She had no reason to ask you to sign anything, least of all in a magically binding document signed with blood."

"She wasn't making me sign anything; she was forcing me to write lines with it during detention."

Lucius looked aghast. Harry was confused, why did the man care so much? Why was he helping him, he wasn't sure what the hell was going on here, his brain was telling him that he should be careful, that he should be afraid, but his body was refusing to react. He felt at ease, curious and overwhelmed sure, but he didn't feel like he was in any danger.

"Didn't Draco tell you?" Harry frowned harder.

"I sincerely doubt that he knew."

"He was part of her Inquisitorial Squad that year, of course he knew, he was even there when she threatened to use the Cruciatus curse on me to get information that she wanted from me, I bet he never told you that either."

The look on Lucius' face told Harry that he didn't know about that either, he tried to hide that fact, but he seemed to be genuinely shocked, which confused Harry even more.

"Overuse of this type of quill can cause permanent scarring." Nagnok told him.

"I know that too." Harry said as he held out his right hand, twisting it to the candlelight to show the pale white scars in his own handwriting. 'I must not tell lies.'

Lucius actually seized his hand and checked the scars over, brushing over the five words with the pad of a smooth thumb.

"This…this is diabolical!" He hissed furiously. "That a student of Hogwarts would be treated this way, that a contract quill would be misused as a punishment for underaged wizards. A fifteen year old!"

"Oh I wasn't the youngest, she had a whole class of first years writing lines, they were openly crying by the end and one little girl wanted nothing more than to just go home and never come back, her shirt was so blood stained that the house elves had to clean it twice to get rid of the stain."

"What were they doing to deserve this treatment?" Lucius demanded.

"They were practising their spell casting during their break in the courtyard. She didn't like us using magic."

"She would never have done this to Draco, never. He wouldn't have allowed it."

"Like I said, he was part of her Inquisitorial Squad. She left the Purebloods alone, anyone who was a Slytherin was safe, it was everyone else who had to worry, even the first years."

"Are they permanently scarred as well?"

Harry shook his head. "No, they never used the quill often enough. I was purposefully targeted because of the Ministry witch hunt against me last year and I was there nearly every night, she found reasons to give me punishment, even for things she just thought I'd done and had no proof of, just because I told her that Voldemort was back and had killed Cedric and that Fudge was a bumbling fool and the wizarding world would be better off if he stepped aside. I think she loves him."

"I am so glad that you have brought this matter to my attention. I will have that woman in Azkaban before the month is out." Lucius hissed.

"She told us that she could do it, she said she had permission from Fudge."

"A bumbling idiot he may be, and an utter incompetent fool, but I very much doubt that he knew anything about this, he wouldn't have allowed any magical child to be abused in such a way. Not when half of the governors' children are currently attending Hogwarts and when half of the Wizengamot have young relatives in Hogwarts."

"Where do I sign?" Harry asked as he looked at the pile of parchment.

Nagnok snapped his fingers again and a bowl of a very familiar liquid appeared. Essence of Murtlap. Harry steeled himself, he'd done this countless times before, once he had even done it for so long that he'd almost passed out from blood loss on his way back to the Gryffindor common room.

Harry scrawled his signature and ground his teeth together as the familiar, itchy sensation came back to him, his hand had opened with his own name and then it had healed almost instantly, but the back of his hand was a bright, cherry red already.

He signed his name everywhere that Nagnok pointed and it took just three signatures before his hand stopped closing over, blood quickly covering the back of his hand and slipping down his wrist.

Lucius wrapped a handkerchief around his wrist to keep it from staining the documents he was signing, the same one that he had offered when he had cut his finger for him.

Harry finished signing his name and his hand was on fire, but it was immediately submerged into the bowl of Murtlap tentacles and it was soothed instantly.

"You're going to have trouble signing these sorts of contracts for the rest of your life; the quill has left permanent damage."

Harry nodded his understanding.

"I sort of understood that. I knew she was doing permanent damage to me, she knew it too, but still she had me writing the same line over and over, sometimes she'd press her thumb to the cut to see how much it hurt me and if I didn't try to pull away or gasp with pain, she'd have me coming back the following night to 'get the message to sink in more.' She wanted to do me permanent damage."

"But you hadn't done anything further to earn an additional detention?" Lucius clarified.

Harry shook his head. "I told you, half of the detentions I served with her didn't have a real reason, she just kept adding them on and drawing them out by saying I hadn't written enough lines to serve as a proper punishment and I'd have to come back again the following night and then I'd have more detentions because I was missing homework because I spent half the night with her and I was too drowsy and weak afterwards to stay awake to finish my homework."

"How long were you doing this each night?"

"Straight after dinner until whenever she would release me, it went on until midnight once and I almost passed out from blood loss."

"She made you write with a contract quill for seven straight hours?" Lucius demanded furiously.

Harry nodded. "Hermione was the smart one; she figured out what was happening and always had a bowl of Murtlap Essence waiting for whenever I got back to the common room."

"If she were truly smart then she would have told an adult."

"All of the Hogwarts staff already knew." Harry shrugged. "They couldn't do anything, not even Dumbledore, she had too much power at the school by then and she knew it."

"I will sort this out, she won't get away with this, my son was at that school and a Pureblood had been injured."

Harry frowned at that as he tried to recall an injured Pureblood. Lucius sighed at him and looked at him as if he were completely hopeless.

"You have claimed two Lordships, you are by rights and by legitimisation a Pureblood and you were injured by that woman."

Harry flushed a faint pink and ducked his head. "Are we done here?" He asked, wanting nothing more than to slip away and think about everything that had happened, least of all Lucius Malfoy actually helping him.

The same Lucius Malfoy who had cornered and threatened him and his friends' just weeks ago, the same man who had escaped from the Department of Mysteries with a certain few others to escape the clutches of the Aurors and who was now sat next to him as if none of that had ever happened! It was too much, he was going to explode into a rage if he didn't get out of here soon, it was too weird for him to handle at this moment.

"You just need your house rings, remember when they heat up, no matter what you're doing, you have to make your way to the Ministry immediately."

"How often can I expect to be called so I know what schedule I need to set up for school work and how will I get there? I'm still too young to Apparate by myself."

"Your rings will act as a Portkey while you're so young." Lucius informed him. "It will give you fifteen minutes to get out of the school wards before activating, if you miss that then you'll have an additional Portkey activation five minutes later, if you miss that then you have to make your own way to the Ministry, remember we cannot start until every member is there. As for how often, it differs, we usually meet every other month or so to catch each other up on events that might have been missed and to discuss things that may need monitoring or changing, but trials can happen at any moment, day or night."

Harry nodded and Nagnok handed over two ancient, chunky rings. One was large, golden and engraved on the band was the Black family crest and motto. It was the other ring that made him catch his breath however, because he knew his Father and before him his Grandfather, had also worn this ring. It was smaller than the Black ring, but no less chunky, both bands were thick with gold, but the Potter ring had a small ruby inset in the band and on the face of the ruby, the Potter insignia was carved carefully, likely by hand.

"Which fingers do they go on?"

"It will take a while to get used to it, as they will both sit on the same finger, the Potter ring first and then the Black. They will both sit on the fourth finger of your right hand."

"Left is for wedding and engagement rings." Harry nodded as he slipped both rings onto his finger, surprised that they both fit him perfectly. He loved magic.

Lucius nodded and he stood, snapping his gloves back on and picking up his cane.

"Come along then, we still need to go to Flourish and Blotts."

"I need to withdraw money." Harry said as he took out his vault key, remembering the whole reason he had come to Gringotts in the first place.

Nagnok handed him over two new, small vault keys, a long rectangular booklet that looked like Uncle Vernon's cheque book and two huge, thick dragonhide portfolios filled with smaller folders and a lot of parchment.

"Purebloods don't carry around pockets full of coin." Lucius informed him. "We have exchange books. You write the amount you owe onto the slip, your vault number and then sign your name, you won't need to sign it with blood, it's not a formal contract so normal ink will do, and then the shop owners can then come here to the bank and exchange these slips with Gringotts, who will take the gold from your specified vault and hand it over. After validating the signature first, of course."

Harry nodded and smiled, slipping all three of his keys into the same pocket along with the little book and he carried the portfolio cases of parchment that he'd been told were the accounts for all of his vaults and that he had to review them and change what he didn't like. One was for the Potter family; the second was for the Black family.

"How many books will I need?" Harry asked.

"A fair few." Lucius said mockingly. "You need to act like a Pureblood, not like the little commoner you have been. Act more like Draco."

Harry snorted. "So be a selfish, self-centred, boastful prick who taunts and bullies everyone, literally kicks the first and second years out of his way, has no real friends and likes bed hopping with Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass? Yeah, that's seriously not happening."

"You're the Lord of two houses; try to remember that when speaking so crassly in a public area." Lucius bit out through gritted teeth.

"I don't know how to act like a Lord." Harry hissed. "I didn't even know about it until a few hours ago!"

"It was purposefully kept from you, I have no doubts certain…people, were involved too."

Harry's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"The Weasleys are blood traitors, but they're still a Pureblooded family, do you really think that they didn't know that you should be Lord Potter? Foolish they may be, yes, but even I can't believe they're that ignorant."

"So Mister Weasley has a seat too?" Harry asked his mind was already running around too much information to take anything else in.

Lucius Malfoy let out a small, short, sarcastic laugh. "Of course not, they're blood traitors, Potter. When they renounced their blood, they renounced the Lordship of their family too."

"Why don't you like the Weasleys?" Harry asked in a flash of courage. "It can't just be that they're blood traitors."

Lucius gave him a look and sighed. "Catch up, Potter. I have no wish to shout my business up and down the street for all the shoppers on Diagon Alley to hear."

Harry jogged a bit to catch up and stood by Lucius Malfoy's side, matching him stride for stride as best as he could, the Malfoy Lord had seriously long, slender legs. In fact everything about him was long, slender and elegant.

"You doubtlessly know that all Pureblood families are interrelated." Harry nodded, giving his full attention to Lucius Malfoy as he listened intently.

He'd always been so curious to know why the Malfoys hated the Weasleys and he hadn't felt comfortable asking Mister Weasley and asking Ron only garnered him a furious tirade about 'those evil Slytherin bastards' which left Ron red faced and him still not understanding the situation.

"My great-great grandmother Amorette Malfoy married Lord Bilius Weasley, back when they were still a _respectable_ family, if you can imagine such a thing."

"What happened?" Harry asked as he sensed how…_sad_ the man next to him seemed.

"He dragged her down and into the mud and he utterly humiliated and disgraced her. Malfoys…we're not known for our fertility, Potter. Most of us struggle to get two children, why do you think Narcissa and I only have Draco?"

"I thought that maybe you only wanted the one. Believe me, Draco's more than enough for any parent to handle."

Lucius shook his head. "No, we are infamous for our lone child pregnancies, male or female, it doesn't matter, we are…cursed almost, with low fertility, but Bilius Weasley wanted more children. More than the two Amorette could give him, the two smart, beautiful children that she almost died to give him. He blamed her for their lack of children, quite rightly, but it was not her fault, he knew that Malfoys struggle to conceive, everyone knew, but he was enamoured by her beauty and overlooked all of the important qualities. He had a secret affair with a Muggle woman, completely disgracing Amorette and the Malfoy family; he had four further children with the Muggle. Amorette was broken hearted and she died not long after she finally found out about her Husband's affair nearly twelve years later, upon which Bilius Weasley finalised his complete and utter disgrace of her and the Malfoy family by marrying the Muggle whom had given him four additional children and bastardising the two children he'd had with Amorette. The Black family, out of respect for the Malfoy family, actually disowned a daughter when she married Septimus Weasley despite what his Grandfather had done to my own family."

Harry scowled. "That's terrible. I can understand wanting children, but if you love someone, you deal with it. You don't just go out and have an affair just to have more children. That's despicable!"

"I am pleased that you see things from my ancestors' side. After that the Malfoy family swore a feud with the Weasley family until such a time that they disowned Bilius Weasley from their family for what he'd done to our family; they have thus far refused to do so, so the feud carries on to this day."

Harry went silent, thinking fast and hard. He was only just realising that things weren't always what he'd thought they were. He'd thought that the Malfoys were just snobby, stuck up pricks who bullied Mister Weasley merely for his lack of money and ambition; he'd had no idea of the story behind what had started their feud. He was ignorant and he was beginning to think that maybe Hermione had the right idea; books contained all sorts of information and as Mister Malfoy led the way into Flourish and Blotts, Harry promised himself that before he went back to Hogwarts, he would do his best to read every single book he bought here today, even if there were twenty of them.

* * *

><p>AN: So this is my brand new story. It's currently 60,000 words long, so I haven't gone into this with nothing behind it, though I am still writing furiously for this plot and for The Rise of the Drackens, I'm working on the both of them together, so hopefully neither of them miss out.

Those on my author Facebook page have had the chance to preview this story and eight lovelies have seen a lot more and read it through for me. I am happy to say that they were all pleased with it, which has given me the confidence to post it today.

I hope you all enjoy it and I can tell you that the second chapter will be posted in two weeks, as The Rise of the Drackens is going to be updated next, on the First of October, until then, I hope you've all enjoyed the start to this new story and I hope that you will let me know what you've thought about it,

StarLight Massacre. X


	2. Changing Tides

_Last Time_

_Harry went silent, thinking fast and hard. He was only just realising that things weren't always what he'd thought they were. He'd thought that the Malfoys were just snobby, stuck up pricks who bullied Mister Weasley merely for his lack of money and ambition; he'd had no idea of the story behind what had started their feud. He was ignorant and he was beginning to think that maybe Hermione had the right idea; books contained all sorts of information and as Mister Malfoy led the way into Flourish and Blotts, Harry promised himself that before he went back to Hogwarts, he would do his best to read every single book he bought here today, even if there were twenty of them._

Chapter Two – Changing Tides

It was a little worse than Harry had first thought. He'd been forced to buy over sixty books and a lot of them had more than five hundred pages! He'd spent most of his time in his bedroom at number four Privet Drive, just reading and trying to understand what the hell the authors were going on about as he encountered words that he had never seen before, so he had no clue as to their meaning and as such he had no hope of understanding what the books were trying to teach him.

The Dursleys left him alone for the most part as they had done all summer because of his guard, he had been interrogated by Hestia Jones though, an Order of the Phoenix member, when he'd come back late at night with a charmed bag bursting with books. He'd ignored her as best as he could, brushed off her questions and then he'd finally lost his patience when she wouldn't let him enter the house and he'd shouted at her that he'd been gone all day and that it wasn't his fault that she'd never noticed that he wasn't in the house like he was supposed to be. He'd gotten a letter from Dumbledore the very next day expressing his 'disappointment' that Harry had broken his rules and had needlessly put himself at risk by wandering around on his own. Harry had torn the letter to shreds in his anger that had flared bright and cold, burning furiously inside him.

He spent his days in a virtual rage when he stopped to think about things too much and he'd kicked his trunk more than once…he always regretted it. So instead he had taken to annoying his Aunt, practising the cardinal Dursley sin of asking questions to try and figure out what in the hell these books were going on about. That had ended badly, Petunia had thrown a dictionary at him when he wasn't looking and the thick spine, the part of the book to unfortunately hit him, had left a knot the size of an egg on the back of his head, but at least now he had a dictionary to help him, not that he understood much more of what the books were about even with the help of the dictionary.

He was back to being confined in his room though. He didn't know what had changed or why the threat of the guards outside the house no longer worked, but he was back to being locked in his small, bland bedroom, but at least he had a mountain of books to read and a dictionary to give the illusion of helping him when in reality, it didn't help him understand anything at all.

Locked away in a small room however, Harry had more time to think about everything that had happened and without the distraction of going down to the kitchen or out into the garden, he was stuck with his thoughts and the burning anger was making his head hurt. He couldn't believe what he'd found out, he still couldn't believe that Dumbledore hadn't told him that he had a seat on the Wizengamot, two of them after Sirius had died, or that he was sat in them in his place! He'd had no clue about any of it; about Dumbledore being his magical guardian, the Lordships, the bank vaults he had, his claim to the Black vaults and Lordship…he hadn't even known that his parents had legitimised him with Sirius' blood! Why the hell had no one ever told him these things?!

Everything was always about the war, always about him and Voldemort, about that damn prophecy and how he had to kill the Dark Lord to save the wizarding world…it was like that was all he was to them, a shield and sword combo to be pushed in front of Voldemort, something to be used to keep everyone safe and to hell if he was injured or even killed in the attempt.

He scrubbed at his damp eyes with the back of his hand. He'd been pulled around by the hand like a clueless child, doing everything they wanted him to do and they hadn't even had the decency to tell him about his own birth right. He swallowed hard and painfully past a bone dry throat, it was almost as if they were expecting him to die, so any information about what he could claim as an adult was irrelevant, because they didn't expect him to live that long.  
>His body froze as his mind played that over and over again, he felt bile at the back of his throat and he swallowed it back down. He didn't want to die…all he wanted was to live his life in peace, maybe settle down with a partner, he knew he wanted kids, even if he had to adopt them and he wanted a nice house, with a big garden. He wanted to be <em>normal<em>! He didn't want to be told of prophecies or be told that he had to kill someone, he didn't want to be dragged into this war, he didn't want to fight! Why should he? This wasn't his war! He hadn't chosen this, he'd been dragged into it and set up like a lamb to slaughter. They meant for him to die and they were slowly taking his control away from his birth right…his Lordships, his vaults, his property and stock holdings…_everything_ that his parents had wanted him to have, everything that they had planned and prepared meticulously, from his trust vault, to his legitimisation and his Lordship, it had all been slowly removed from him and he hadn't even known about any of it!

This was all Dumbledore's doing, he knew it. Lucius Malfoy might have been a filthy Death Eater, but he hadn't once lied to him. How the hell did it get to the point where Dumbledore had taken everything that should have been his away from him and _Death Eaters_ were actually helping him? He couldn't understand it and it made his head hurt all the more as he tried to figure out what on earth was happening.

How had it gotten to the point where he could trust Lucius Malfoy more than he could trust Dumbledore? He was confused and angry and he didn't know what to do or even who to speak to! He'd even contemplated sending an owl to Lucius Malfoy asking him for his advice! He didn't know where that moment of madness had come from, but he was so confused and he didn't know where to turn, how had this even happened?

Things got even worse than that though as he had been summoned, via Ministry guard, to go to the Ministry of Magic and he had gone willingly enough as he had been let out of his room for the first time in days to sit at the table to eat his cousin's half chewed toast crusts and Dudley had been entertaining the thoughts of starting up an old game of 'Harry Hunting' and Vernon was in a particularly bad mood that morning, so he had jumped at the chance to leave Privet Drive, even if it was for a couple of hours.

His Order guard had seen him leaving however, he could almost feel their eyes on him, and as he'd climbed into the back of an enchanted, green Ministry car, with all of his belongings as requested by his Ministry guards he might add, he'd seen the pale shimmering of an invisibility cloak as the person underneath it had spun on their heel and Disapparated, likely to tell Dumbledore immediately that Harry had been taken into Ministry custody.

He hadn't stayed in Ministry custody though, as soon as he'd arrived at the Ministry in London, he'd been greeted, informed briefly of what was going on and then handed right on over to Lucius Malfoy who, he had been informed, had taken legal custody of him in the name of the Wizardry Protection Movement.

He'd tried to fight it, shouted that he didn't want to live with Malfoy of all people, but no one had wanted to listen, as far as they were concerned, he had no rights as to where he even lived! He was underage and after what Lucius had fed them, they were all eating out of his hand and were eager to put Harry with Lucius, as a founding member of the Wizardry Protection Movement they claimed that he was the perfect person to take custody of him! He was told to calm himself down and go home with his new custodian as there was nothing else he could do, he was underage and nothing he said or did would change what had happened.

It was just three days after his trip to Diagon Alley and all of his things were now in a guest bedroom of Malfoy Manor, which was almost as big as the entire upper floor of the Dursley's house and he was still reeling from what had happened, the papers were going ballistic with the story that Lucius had taken custody of the 'neglected' boy hero and had adopted him as his own son, but Lucius Malfoy refused to comment on anything or his reasoning behind taking custody of him except to tell the media that Harry had been neglected and Harry himself was kept well away from the public and the reporters.

He was Lord Potter and Lord Black, the papers had figured that much out when Lucius had taken Harry to the next called meeting to introduce him, but he still needed a guardian until he graduated and Lucius Malfoy was now that person after filing for his custody on the grounds of severe negligence by his previous magical guardian.

Harry didn't know who was more shocked really, him or Draco, who Lucius had firmly told that he had to treat Harry like a brother now that they _were_ adopted brothers. Narcissa Malfoy had taken it in her stride, not that she could complain much with Harry now being her Head of House.

It was so strange, Harry had thought that, as stupid as it sounded in hindsight, that Voldemort would have been here waiting for him, but of course that couldn't be true, Lucius was a top, loyal follower, of that he had no doubt, the very thought of being under the same roof as Lucius had seen him with many sleepless nights, but the man was also a high ranking Ministry official who was accused of being a Death Eater. Surely the Ministry would have tabs on him and his house and they'd know if Voldemort was here, though that still didn't stop Lucius from being a Death Eater.

Harry didn't like being here and he made sure that he never went _anywhere_ without his wand, he was even bathing with it and he was having trouble relaxing and sleeping, but everyone knew that he was here now, so he was at least reassured a little that Lucius couldn't just do away with him, there would be questions asked and Lucius would be in the thick of it.

So no, Harry didn't outright fear for his life being here and Lucius was actually taking lessons with him to help him understand what being a Lord was all about and what was expected of him and he was running through everything that he didn't understand from the files Nagnok had given him and from the books that Lucius had made him buy, he was so busy that he didn't have a damn chance to just sit back and think about what was happening, not thoroughly.

Of course a million and one owls all swooped in on him the morning after it had been made public, two days after he'd actually be brought to Malfoy Manor, that he'd been 'adopted' by Lucius Malfoy due to 'unspecified negligence' which really could have been anything or meant anything. He had several letters from the Weasleys, one incredibly long one from Hermione, a short, inquiring note from Dumbledore and a panicked letter from Remus who thought that he'd been kidnapped.

He sighed as they all bore near enough the same message, keep his eyes open, keep his wand on him at all times, don't turn his back on them, don't trust them, find out what he could from them, follow and report their every move and they'd do their best to get him out as quickly as possible.

"I take it from your expression that your letters bear news that you'd have rathered not read?" Lucius inquired as he sipped tea from a fine, bone china vintage teacup that had a matching delicate saucer. It was almost comical to Harry to watch the Malfoy's eat and drink, especially after the two weeks he'd spent with the Dursleys watching Dudley and Vernon shovel in as much as they could with every mouthful.

Harry scoffed. "Something like that. It's like they've all used the same template to write them, just in different words, they all contain the same points and 'advice.'"

"Around the lines of not trusting us and spying on us no doubt. Dumbledore always was a transparent fool." Lucius told him and Harry nodded absent mindedly as he rolled his eyes at Ron's letter and his declaration of getting the twins to rescue him once more like they had when he was twelve.

Draco was sat opposite him at the small, six seated table. The Malfoys had a larger, much larger, table in their formal dining room, but the family dining room was smaller and more intimate and though it seated six, there were only four chairs. Lucius sat at the head of one side and Narcissa the other, Harry and Draco sat opposite each other on the sides of the table, it had made the first few days nearly impossible as Draco was a very spoilt, childish, petty person and kept kicking his shins, at least until Lucius had found out and had threatened to punish him for it if it carried on that is.

Draco was still reeling from the embarrassment and humiliation of his last punishment, one administered for promiscuous behaviour and a neglect of his studies, and he had no desire to earn another one. He hated Harry even more for telling his Father the rumours flying around Hogwarts and he made sure he knew about it too, he took every opportunity he could to ensure that Harry knew he wasn't wanted or welcome in his home, which he'd never had to share with anyone in his life, he wasn't big on sharing, just like Dudley.

It was sad really, he'd been taken from one unwanted home to be put in another, it truly was like he was unlovable, but as he was staying with the Malfoy's of all people, he tried not to let that bother him.

A week after he had arrived at Malfoy Manor and had everything turned on its head, Lucius had a day off from work and had woken him up at six in the morning, or rather he'd gotten a house elf to come and wake him up at six in the morning and lead him to a room in the maze like manor that he still wasn't used to.

Harry had been forced to sit through an hour long etiquette lesson before breakfast and then after breakfast, which was perfectly balanced he might add, a tailor and two assistants had come to measure him for robes. That had taken three hours as they'd made him two sets of robes on the spot, complete with shirts and trousers, to wear while his new wardrobe was being created especially for him from a range of colours that suited his skin tone, hair and eye colour and the seasons. Lucius had gotten a house elf to incinerate all of his old robes and clothes while he was being fitted.

Lunch was even more tense than breakfast had been as Harry was furious at being picked apart, pulled about, dressed like a toddler and then he'd found out that all of his own clothing had been burnt without his permission.

'You are a part of the Malfoy household, your actions reflect upon me and your appearance reflects upon me. While you are in my home, you will dress and behave as I tell you to.' Lucius had told him calmly after Harry had thrown a bitch fit and let out all of his pent up rage and frustration, which had only been growing the longer he remained here.

Sullen and still silently fuming, Harry went back to reading his new boring book in a chair in front of Lucius' desk in his study. He was doing work for whatever it was he did whilst supervising Harry's lesson so that he could be on hand if Harry didn't understand something, which was often enough that Lucius had once remarked that perhaps he should read the book to him like a child.

"Are you going to start reading or would you rather continue staring blankly at the page?" Lucius asked without looking up at him.

Harry sighed and forced himself to go back to the book. He didn't know what was happening, everything was turned on its head and it was all going far too fast for him to take in, he needed everything to just slow down a little, so that he could breathe and work through it all. He didn't know what to think, who to trust or what to believe. He'd even made a list in his bed suite at night, because such a large room, with its own attached en suite bathroom and a sitting area with its own fire, could not be called just a simple bedroom, so he'd taken to calling it his bed suite. This list had on it just a few names of people he knew that he could explicitly trust, bulletin points of everything he'd learnt so far and another bulletin list of all the books he'd read since that summer, just so that he could keep track of everything.

"I have made a list of all eligible young women for you to peruse if you're not going to read that book." Lucius told him several minutes later after Harry had spaced out yet again.

"What for?" Harry demanded angrily.

"For your betrothal, Harry." Lucius said patiently.

"I am not getting married to anyone and you can't make me!" He exploded.

Lucius Malfoy sighed heavily. "A betrothal is a simple contract that is easily broken if you wish it to be, but it's traditional for an Heir, or an underaged Lord, to be betrothed, it's more for protection as you cannot be betrothed twice, it is better to have a hand-picked betrothal than one not of your making. Draco is betrothed, and has been since he was six years old, to Astoria Greengrass, which is why his 'bed hopping' as you phrased it, with Miss Parkinson and Astoria's older sister, Daphne, is deeply disgraceful and is the reason why I put a stop to such behaviours. I don't expect my son to remain virginal until his wedding night, but I had thought that he'd have more respect for the daughters of other Pureblood lines, who traditionally _are_ expected to remain virginal, as unfair as that might seem to you."

"So there's no…obligation for me to marry this person?" Harry asked as he took the list of just a handful of names.

"None." Lucius told him smoothly. "This information will be in one of the books that you were given."

"I haven't gotten around to reading them all yet." He said with an averted gaze.

"Hardly surprising if you just stare mindlessly at the page and don't actually read them." Lucius said as he let his gaze linger on the forgotten book on his lap. "I understand that some of them are quite tedious, but it is all information that you now need to know, so I suggest that you apply yourself more than you have and retain the information you are taking in."

"I don't know any of these names." Harry said with a frown as he read down the list.

"You don't have to know their names, they are in order of suitability for a Lord of your status, to have two Lordships is a very attractive quality, even if your manners, etiquette, intelligence and personality are lacking."

Harry grit his teeth together, he'd lashed out once, only verbally, but as his guardian, Lucius now had the power and the right to punish him, like he'd done with Draco. Harry would not soon forget that punishment and he had no wish to ever repeat the utterly humiliating experience.

"Hmm, so you can learn. Good."

Harry sat sullenly in the chair, glaring at the parchment that had only five names on it. He couldn't pronounce two of them.

"There is a lack of Pureblooded witches in Britain." Lucius told him as if reading his mind. "Those that are even close to your age group were betrothed years ago. I didn't think you would like a babe as your betrothed, nor a witch of advanced age, though I suspect Draco would thoroughly enjoy it."

Harry remained silent as he nibbled on his lip. Lucius sighed again. He was doing that a lot around him and Harry wondered if he really was that much of a burden or if the man was prone to sighing over everything.

"What is the youngest and oldest age that you would consider?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't like the thought of anyone younger than me, but people, well they annoy me."

"Annoy you how?" Lucius queried.

Harry shrugged again; immediately a pain in his shoulder, like being hit with a wooden ruler, had him startling in surprise and rubbing his shoulder as he glared at Lucius, who had his wand out.

"I have warned you several times to stop shrugging like an ineloquent Muggle." Lucius hissed at him. "Tell me, with your words, what you find annoying about other people."

"I don't know, most people my own age annoy me, little things like the way they act, the things they say, what they expect me to do or how to behave, it all seems so…pointless, so childish."

"Things like what?"

"Like pranks, or stupid games, calling other people names because of stupid reasons. I've never liked it. Everyone expects me to be this huge prankster like my Dad was, but I have no interest in doing something so ridiculous as using other people for amusement. Or when Ron calls Draco a ferret because of what the fake Moody did to him in our fourth year or the Slytherins calling Hermione a beaver because of her teeth when it's something she couldn't control, it's all so pointless, what's the point behind it? It doesn't give either party anything so why bother doing it? It's stupid."

"Well well, it seems I misjudged you, you are a little bit more mature than I first thought. So you would actually prefer someone older than yourself?"

"I suppose." Harry said unhappily.

"Shall we say forty then?" Lucius asked patiently.

Harry nodded, the feeling of a ruler smacking into the back of his head had him gritting his teeth. "I mean, yes."

"Good. There are still no Pureblooded witches of that age group in Britain, but it opens up quite a bit for more European Pureblooded witches."

Harry scowled and looked down at his lap. Lucius sighed once again.

"What is the problem now?" He asked less patiently.

"I'm…I'm not sure that I like women as a whole."

Lucius reared back as if he'd been slapped. Harry blushed and hunched himself over.

"I mean…I'm not really interested in anyone, but girls seem to be more annoying to me, so I thought that maybe boys would be better, but I'm really not sure what I am or what I like, I've never…I've never actually been with anyone in that way, so I don't know."

"There is no need for such a tirade, I am merely surprised. I didn't take you for the open minded type, perhaps I should have. I will have you tested to see if you are able to carry children, I was going to do so regardless, but with this development I will do so a little more urgently and I will write up a new list of appropriate candidates that are suitable for you. There happen to be more Pureblooded wizards than witches, so there are quite a few left over in Britain without a current betrothal match."

"What do you mean 'to see if I can carry children'?" Harry asked dumbfounded.

Lucius sighed heavily. "Your ignorance truly knows no bounds. I will find that book for you as well, but certain wizards are able to carry children, others are not. Draco was tested before his betrothal and was found not to carry the gene that enables wizards to carry children, I will have you tested in due course, but thirty percent of all wizards are actually able to carry children, most never find out, as they are heterosexual and never let another man penetrate them in such a way and are never tested, but if you feel that you are more naturally drawn to males, then it might be because you need to be matched with one."

"So…so I would be betrothed to another man and that would be okay?" Harry asked uncertainly.

"Perfectly okay." Lucius clarified. "Now, run along, read your books. I want you to report to me tomorrow that you have made headway on the stack that you still have left. I will have the potion you need to take ready for tomorrow afternoon."

Harry nodded and he stood, taking the book he was currently struggling and bumbling through with him. He ran into Draco on his way to his bed suite.

"Having fun, Potter?" He spat.

"Save it, Draco, I have absolutely nothing to say to you." Harry replied to the taller boy.

"You will stop referring to me so personally!" Draco hissed.

"I've been told to call you Draco, so I will. I have absolutely no wish to be punished again and I would have thought that you wouldn't want that again either, unless you actually like being turned over your Father's knee and spanked like a toddler."

Draco went pink and shut his mouth. Being spanked by Lucius Malfoy _hurt_ and badly. He and Draco had both been uncomfortable with the whole situation and then the next day they had had to suffer through the humiliation of not being able to sit down properly and as squirming would get them a hex from one or both of the elder Malfoys, they'd had to endure the pain while sitting completely still on an unpadded, wooden chair. Neither of them wanted to repeat the experience.

"I don't like you being here." Draco told him churlishly.

"I actually like being here." Harry said with a smile. "It's so surprising and I never would have thought that I'd enjoy being here, but I'm learning a lot and it won't be for long at any rate, we'll be back in Hogwarts soon enough. Then it'll just be one more summer, then I'll be free of all guardians when I graduate and being the Lord of the Potter and Black houses, I'll be free to do as I please."

"Not entirely, you're still expected to act like a Lord." Draco told him. "You are linked to the Malfoy name now; I won't let you disgrace us!"

"Believe it or not I have no intention of disgracing the Malfoy name; I have a lot to be thankful to your Father for, including setting up my betrothal for me so that I can't be taken advantage of by anyone else and giving me a respectable match in the process."

That took the wind out of Draco's sails. "Who is it?"

Harry just winked and left for his bed suite.

"Don't you walk away from me in my own home! Tell me who you're betrothed to!"

"It's none of your business! Though I was surprised to hear that your betrothal was to Astoria Greengrass, especially as you were…_practising_ with her older sister."

"That has nothing to do with you! How did you even know about Daphne?"

"Oh please, everyone knows about that, Draco and about Pansy's pregnancy scare."

Draco went pale at the remembered fury of his Father finding out that little bit of information. He sighed.

"That was my own fault." He allowed. "I wasn't careful enough."

"I got the impression that you weren't supposed to be doing that with them, careful or not."

Draco sneered. "How is it my fault if they slid into bed with me? They're the ones who should be retaining their purity; it's not for me to do it for them."

Harry conceded to that, the girls should have had more restraint, but still it took two people to agree to sex, Draco could have refused them.

"Why should I have?" He asked when Harry pointed that out. "If they're offering me something that I want, I'm going to take it." He said simply.

Harry sighed. He didn't think he'd ever be able to accept such a selfish point of view, he hadn't been raised that way, being kicked and beat upon by his own family members, being forced into near servitude to them…he didn't have it in him to be a selfish person, at least not to the extent of Draco and the other Purebloods.

He made it to his bed suite and Draco had let him go this time. He had a lot to think about and a lot to read through still, not to mention trying to get the hang of Ancient Runes, which had piqued his interest when he'd seen them at Gringotts, and the very difficult Arithmancy and now he had the added worry of a betrothal set up for him by Lucius Malfoy to an older Pureblooded wizard. There couldn't be many of them left around either if all the females were snatched up, he was contented and soothed a little with the knowledge that he didn't have to marry them and that he could break the betrothal once he was a graduated adult.

He sat in his own personal sitting room and settled down with his book, he'd meant what he'd said to Draco, he had absolutely no desire to be spanked like a naughty little boy again and he took Lucius' threat seriously, so he sat and he read the tedious books that he'd been forced to buy at the goblin, Nagnok's, and Lucius' insistence. It was going to be a long, boring night, of that he was sure.

* * *

><p>Harry had settled in relatively well with the Malfoy family he thought, even as his back was smacked again with a hex that made him feel like he was being hit with a thin piece of wood.<p>

This time it was Narcissa Malfoy doing the hexing and he had been assured that the hex was a common one used by all Pureblooded parents to dissuade their children from ill-mannered habits, as he'd been told by all three of the Malfoys. Draco had even told him some of his more prominent memories of being taught with the hex.

"Keep your back straight, your natural posture is curved, because your spine is S shaped." He was lectured as his shoulders were pulled back and an elegant hand pushed at the lower curve of his back, pushing his hips forward. "You've lived with bad posture for all of your life, it will take some time to get used to, but you will get used to it with some precise instruction. You have the wardrobe, now you just need the posture to pull it off, you are meeting your betrothed in a week, you need to be walking the walk and talking the talk by then or you'll be rejected, so learn quickly because being rejected is a huge humiliation for you and for the Malfoy family."

Harry nodded and he held his shoulders back and loose, as he'd been taught. He took precise, elegant strides up and around the huge rectangular ball room, Narcissa following him, her wand out and poised to hit him with another smack if he put a foot wrong or tightened up his shoulders or let them slump. It was hard work keeping the posture and it pulled at his abdominal muscles and his back muscles, what Lucius had told him were his 'core' muscles. Apparently he needed to firm them up and get them stretched and strong, because all Purebloods had strong core muscles due to their posture. It hurt.

He was smacked on the hip with the hex and he yelped, only to get a smack to the back of the head for such an undignified sound.

"You cocked your hip out." Narcissa told him. "I don't need to explain what the second hex was for, do I?"

"No, Lady Malfoy." He replied softly and respectfully. He liked Narcissa the most, she did not carry a Dark Mark and she had never personally done anything to him, so he was content to behave himself more with her around and the level of care that she took with him actually made his heart hurt…she made him feel, for the first time in his life, that he was missing a Mother in his life.

"Good, you are one of the rare wizards who are capable of childbirth, so you need to be elegant and poised, gentle yet strong and determined."

Harry took a breath and adjusted his shoulders and his hips, keeping his chin at a right angle to his neck, he wasn't allowed to look at the floor, he wasn't allowed to look where his feet were stepping and he wasn't used to it.

It had come as a huge shock to him when the potion he'd taken had come back positive for the gene that allowed him to carry a child in his own body. He had thrown a fit, been punished and then he'd denied it twice, refusing to believe the test and claiming that it had been rigged just to mess with his head.

Lucius had had enough of his 'needless denials' and on his next day off from work he'd dragged him to Saint Mungos hospital and had them administer the test. It was irrefutable now and the hospital had given him two leaflets and a list of books for him to read. He had been forced to accept that the test was true and he was slowly coming to terms with it and the books were really, very helpful and informative, even if he could have done without the moving pictures of the surgery he'd need to undergo to deliver the baby.

Lucius had actually smiled at the hospital results; apparently there hadn't been a Pureblooded male who had tested positive for the genes in a long while, so Lucius had said that he was going to be well sought after for a full marriage because he had tested positive for this gene and not just a mere betrothal, when he was actually of marrying age that was, which was any age over fourteen with parental consent or seventeen without parental consent.

It was also a point of pride for the Malfoy family to have a male able to bear children in their family, even though Harry hadn't actually been born to the Malfoys, he was constantly being told, and he was slowly coming to understand, that he was a part of their family now regardless, that his actions reflected on them and that their actions reflected on him, his humiliation was their humiliation and his achievements were their achievements because he'd been fully adopted into the Malfoy family. He had even appeared on their family tapestry!

Lucius was still protecting him from everything and everyone, including the media and reporters and he refused any and all attempts to see or talk to 'his son' as he'd reportedly said. Harry was still getting near enough daily owls, but Lucius was a strict man and he had restricted the use of owls for both him and Draco, apparently it was uncouth to send out a mass of owls.

So, due to this restriction, the only person that Harry responded to regularly was Remus, because the man seemed genuinely distressed and upset for him, he wasn't concerned about the Malfoys or what they were doing, but about him as a person, so Harry responded that he was fine, that he was really well and he was happy that he now had a family and that he was being taught the things that he needed to know. He kept his messages brief, to the point and elegant. Lucius reviewed all his letters and approved them, as he did the same for Draco, and he had even refused to let Harry send out letters in the beginning 'because his handwriting was abysmal and he couldn't have such hideous cursive attributed to a member of his family.' Harry's hand still hurt with remembered pain from the amount of hexes it had taken as Lucius had painstakingly instructed him on how to actually write with a quill. His knuckles had been bruised and sore for days.

He'd attended a second Wizengamot meeting just after his sixteenth birthday and he understood a little more than he had the first time around, which proved that he was learning from the numerous amounts of books he was reading, but he mostly stayed quiet and sat as close to Lucius as he could while in public, listening and learning. When he was asked for his opinion or his vote, he took a deep breath and actually thought about what was being asked, having taken in the arguments and opinions of the other Wizengamot members at the semi-circular table, and thought about his answer before he gave it. He believed that he impressed at least some of them with his opinions and insight into some matters, or maybe it was merely because he wasn't bumbling around like a fool or just merely copying Lucius, because he was young, he knew that and as most of the other Lords were forty years or older, it really made him stand out as a teenage boy to them, yet on the same hand, he wasn't the youngest person to ever claim his Lordship early, one boy had been just thirteen when he had joined the Wizengamot, so Harry was a little uncertain about everything, he was a lot less vocal than all of the other Lords, but he was happy to know that he wasn't the youngest person to ever be on the Wizengamot and though he hadn't been raised knowing about his Lordship or what it would entail, he was learning quickly and with Lucius' help, he thought he was holding his own against the older, more informed Lords quite well, though he knew that they didn't exactly take him seriously, not yet, but they listened…not only was he Lord Potter and Lord Black, which was abbreviated to just Lord Potter-Black for conveniences sake, he was also Harry Potter and because of that fact, he at least got people to listen to him instead of just laughing and cutting him off, which he was thankful for as he'd been shitting himself when Lucius had warned him that the other Wizengamot members might do just that.

He'd met a lot of people that he hadn't known existed, particularly Lord Xerxes Lestrange, who had taken a great interest in him too. The man was huge and he was at least the size of two people in height and broadness, his hand was firm and rough when he stuck his hand out to shake, only he didn't shake Harry's offered hand, he took Harry's hand like he was a girl and he kissed the back of it with dry lips with a firm pressure that lasted for only a moment.

Harry bit his tongue and smiled softly, even if it was a little forced, remembering Narcissa's lessons. He was to be strong and gentle, graceful and eloquent; he would be a Consort because of his child bearing abilities, he would be the 'Lady' of the house…he'd been repeatedly hit with the smacking hex for the bitch fit that had followed that piece of information. He'd gone over Lucius' knee again once Narcissa had told him of his disgusting and despicable language and behaviour upon finding out his apparently 'superior' status once the man had come home from work.

"I look forward to seeing more of you very soon, Lord Potter-Black."

Harry turned to Lucius questioningly when they'd been let out of the Wizengamot meeting.

"Please tell me that you never betrothed me to him, he is not forty or under. I'll eat both of my feet, socks and shoes included, if he's under seventy."

Lucius smiled at him. "He is seventy-four and he would make you a good match, he is strong, reliable and he is enamoured of you. The Lestranges have good, strong genes."

Harry blanched, feeling a little faint and Lucius chuckled darkly. "You are betrothed to his younger grandson, Rabastan Lestrange, who is thirty-six. Though he will be thirty-seven later this year, we were friends in school and of course we remained friends later in life. They accepted my offered contract of you just yesterday."

"The one in Azkaban?" Harry asked with a frown.

"The one who escaped from Azkaban." Lucius corrected quietly.

"How can I be betrothed to an escaped felon?" Harry demanded.

"Not in public, my son." Lucius hissed at him.

Harry clenched his mouth shut and shifted his expression to neutral, he corrected his posture and made sure to call upon all of his lessons to avoid going back over Lucius' knee when they got home. If he impressed the man he might get a lesser punishment, like a restriction on his sweet treats or how many letters he could send, though he was already quite restricted on both of those to begin with, but he had no wish to be restricted on them even more than he already was, but it was much better than being spanked like a little boy and then made to stand in the corner while the pads on all his chairs were taken away.

"You're doing wonderfully well." Lucius praised quietly when they reached the Atrium. "Keep it up and you may pass for Lord Potter-Black after all."

Harry tried inexplicably hard and he forced the smile to stay mental and not show it on his face as he appeared disinterested and aloof as he tried as hard as he could to keep pace with Lucius, just slightly behind him as Lucius' legs were really long, unlike his own short, stunted ones. He didn't look left or right and he kept his chin up. He was doing well he thought, especially as he'd only been with the Malfoy family for a little under a month. He remained calm and he didn't dodge anyone, he made them move out of his way, like Lucius did. At least until Dumbledore hurried across to them from the opposite side of the absolutely huge Ministry Atrium, there were a few people following him.

"Harry, my boy!" He called out to stop their progression.

Lucius immediately stepped in front of Harry neatly, and placed a hand on his shoulder to ensure that he knew where he was standing at all times.

"Dumbledore." He greeted silkily. "I don't believe I gave you leave to speak to my underaged son."

"Now Lucius, we both know that he isn't your son."

Lucius chuckled mockingly. "I think that you will find that he is legally mine and there is nothing that you can do about that. You do not have my permission to approach my son in such a way."

"I am his Headmaster."

"Yet it is not school term time. All inquiries you have about my son's education will be directed to me, if I feel that Harry isn't performing to the best of his abilities, then I will act accordingly."

"Are you alright, Harry?" Dumbledore asked around Lucius's side.

Harry averted his eye contact, not lowering his chin below ninety degrees, but turning his head in the opposite direction. He didn't answer. Lucius was his legal Father and had expressly said that Dumbledore did not have permission to talk to him; Harry wouldn't undermine that by talking to Dumbledore, not after everything that Lucius had done for him over the last month, taking him in, teaching him, caring for him in his own way, punishing him when it was called for, setting up everything for him and actually taking the time to tell him everything that he needed to know, no, he wouldn't go against Lucius, not now. He had nothing to say to Dumbledore anyway. At least nothing that that wouldn't have him shouting at him in anger in an undignified display that would get him punished when Lucius got him back home.

"I assure you that he is better than ever. He is being taught properly and re-educated. Which reminds me, I have taken this time to change Harry's electives for his sixth year, as is my right as his Father, I am home schooling him myself in the missing subjects to get him caught up before the new school year starts. That is the extent of the conversation regarding my son's education. Come along, Harry, we have lots to be getting on with."

Harry immediately took a step forward, a nice, even, precise step and he fell in beside Lucius, at least until his arm was grabbed when he was in mid step, which jerked him backwards and he let out a sharp exhale of air, which was the only reaction he gave to being so surprised. He hadn't expected to be grabbed in such a way.

Lucius spun around on his heel, his wand out and aimed at one of the men who had followed Dumbledore, the one who had grabbed, and still had a hold, of Harry's arm.

"I would suggest that you unhand my son this instant." He hissed angrily.

"He isn't your son, Malfoy! You've cursed him or something."

"I would have expected this sort of blatant disrespect from a muggleborn, but from a Halfblood? Well, well."

Harry turned to see Lord Lestrange striding confidently across the Atrium towards them.

"I suggest that you unhand the young Lord. He is a son of the Malfoy family, not one of them I'd want to cross either."

Harry felt a hand shoot out when Lord Lestrange came level with them and it twisted the elbow of the man holding him and Harry was released as the man went to the floor, howling. Harry made his way quickly to Lucius' side, escorted by the formidable, intimidating Xerxes Lestrange.

"I will see you pay for this disrespect, how dare you grab my underaged son from my side! You'll be hearing from my lawyers."

"Why don't we ask Harry what he wants?" Dumbledore said, even as he ignored the man on the floor holding his elbow.

"Fine, just this once I will allow it, but you have no business seeing or speaking to my son." Lucius relented.

Harry assumed that it was because there was a gathering of people watching them, they'd caused a scene.

"I wish to return to my home with my Father." Harry said clearly and concisely, speaking with care and with eloquence. It had taken several elocution lessons from Narcissa to get him speaking properly. He enjoyed the look on Dumbledore's face when he heard him speak, for as much as how he was speaking as the words he had said.

"You have him under the Imperius Curse!" One of the men shouted out loudly to the crowd.

"That is a very serious allegation." Harry said. "To accuse me of being under such a dark, debilitating curse, though I assure you no such thing has occurred."

"I believe that the Lord Potter-Black is just finally coming into himself." Lord Xerxes Lestrange said simply. "It is always eye opening to be taught the things one needs to know, things he really should have been taught in his childhood yet, for some unknown reason, wasn't. He was a disgrace to all Purebloods, I am glad that someone has finally taken him in and has set to teaching him what he needs to know. Someone needed to."

Harry had to clench his teeth together to stave off the smile at the look on Dumbledore's face. Those blue eyes dropped to his right hand, where the two Lordship rings were sitting perfectly, looking chunky on his small finger, but no less regal and important. He had obviously missed the newspaper article about him claiming his Lordships; Harry was glad that he'd gotten to see this first reaction in person.

Harry saw immediately when the penny dropped and Dumbledore realised why he hadn't been called to any recent Wizengamot meetings…because he wasn't on the Wizengamot anymore.

"I would have hoped that you would have come to see me before making such a drastic decision on your own, Harry." He said in a quiet, disappointed voice. "This will seriously disrupt your schooling; it is a huge responsibility to hold on your own."

"He wasn't alone when he made the decision, I was with him." Lucius said smugly. "I told him of the disruption and what would be required of him and he has agreed that though it will be difficult, he will reschedule his school work to fit in his duties as the Lordships he has claimed demands. I have been helping him in the last two meetings, so he isn't technically holding them on his own either and despite what I would have previously thought, he's learning quickly."

Harry lifted his chin a fraction at the praise and he wanted to grin, but he didn't. Praise from Lucius Malfoy, even in the roundabout, insulting way that it was delivered, was high indeed.

"I think that this…_conversation_ is concluded." Lucius said as he put a hand on Harry's shoulder and steered him away. "Say goodbye to your headmaster, Harry."

"Goodbye, headmaster." Harry said dutifully as he turned with Lucius and left. Xerxes Lestrange walked behind them.

"Such an annoying, meddlesome man." Xerxes commented to Lucius.

"Indeed." Lucius answered. "It won't be long now before he is dealt with. I'm more annoyed with that Halfblood actually laying his hands on one of my sons, disgraceful."

"On my future Grandson and the soon to be carrier of my great-grandchildren." Xerxes said. "I would not have stood idly by and let such a thing happen, even if you did have everything under control." He said respectfully.

Harry sighed silently, everyone knew before him it seemed that his betrothal was to Rabastan Lestrange, he didn't understand the whole, carrier of the Great-grandchildren though, because he had no obligation to marry Rabastan when the contract ended, he'd seen that for himself in the contract that he'd signed.

"If he likes Rabastan, that is." Lucius put in silkily and Harry relaxed a little as he was reassured that his information was correct.

"I have every faith that he will like my Rabastan. He's a prominent Pureblood, he's wealthy in his own right, he's intelligent, he's a handsome devil and he's fertile. I had him and Rodolphus checked when Bellatrix didn't fall pregnant after two years of marriage, there's no problem with either of them, but Bellatrix refuses to get checked."

"I could help you with that." Harry said smoothly. "I'm her Head of House; I could…insist that she gets her fertility checked if you have concerns about it as her marital Head of House."

Xerxes chuckled and he touched Harry's shoulder gently. "I would appreciate that, Lord Potter-Black."

Harry nodded and he held Lucius' arm as they reached the Apparation area.

"I will see you soon, Xerxes." Lucius said and the two of them shared a knowing look. Harry took that to mean that there would be a Death Eater meeting soon. Nearly every letter he got now asked about Death Eater meetings and encouraged him to 'pass on' all of Lucius' comings and goings or anything he'd heard the Malfoys say, even if it was out of context. Harry wasn't going to do it, he was learning so much from Lucius, he didn't want that to end and for all intents and purposes, Lucius was his legal Father, he was family and he wouldn't sell out family.

Harry took a half step closer to Lucius and clenched his hand on his arm tighter and then he found himself suddenly back in the foyer of Malfoy Manor. He took a half step forward on the landing, but he was getting much better at it than when he had used to face plant the floor on his landings. Lucius had helped him with that too.

"You're getting much better at that now." Lucius told him, helping to steady him a little. "Your lessons are paying off."

Harry nodded. "All of them, I believe. I understood more of what was said in the meeting this time around."

"Yes, I was very proud of you during that meeting. How you conducted yourself, how you thought about what you wanted to say before opening your mouth and especially how much sense you actually made while speaking. I was immensely proud."

Harry smiled widely, almost beaming at the praise he'd received and he excused himself and rushed away, he wanted to delve deeper into his books so that the next meeting that was called, he could do even better.

"You stop running in your home this instant!" Lucius called after him sharply, not raising his voice, but making it carry to him, where he immediately stopped and looked back at Lucius with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry." He said a bit bashfully.

"You had better need the bathroom really badly." Lucius told him as he climbed the stairs to join him on the landing above.

"I wanted to get to my room so that I could read more, so that the next meeting goes even better." Harry said excitedly. "There were some things that I didn't understand still, so I wanted to check up on those and I wanted to finish the one book that I'm reading so that I could get onto the next one."

"You're prattling." Lucius told him and Harry shut his mouth and ducked his head to the floor. That got him a hex to the back of the head and he lifted it up again automatically. "I never said that it was a bad thing, only something which you need to…limit." Lucius said as they carried on down the hallway. "I am pleased that you're so excited about your duties. Let us hope that you show as much enthusiasm towards your betrothed in a few days."

Harry bit his lip and nibbled at it.

"What if he doesn't like me? Just because I like older men doesn't mean he'll want a recently turned sixteen year old for a match."

"If his Grandfather has any say in the matter, Rabastan would be proposing and whisking you off for a bonding ceremony before you went back to Hogwarts." Lucius remarked dryly.

"Doesn't he need your permission for that, and mine?"

"Exactly right. Something I will not be giving, my sons will finish their formal education before they decide to start a whirlwind romance and fly off to get married."

Harry chuckled. "I never thought of getting married so young, I quite like the idea, just not yet. I'm still new to everything, so I want to learn as much as I can first."

"Then go and do that reading you were so eager to do just a few minutes ago. I will see you later this evening to see how much information you have actually retained."

Harry nodded and he said his goodbyes and he once again veered off for his bed suite, at a much steadier, calmer pace than before. He didn't know what to think about having a convicted, escaped felon as a betrothal match, but it was Lucius' decision, not his, and while he was under this contract, he had to have so many meetings with his betrothed and so much correspondence with him to fulfil the terms of the contract he'd signed, but there was still no obligation for him to marry Rabastan at the end of it, which he was thankful for.

He was a bit nervous about meeting him in a few days and he hoped that everything went well, because he knew that Rabastan had been incarcerated in Azkaban for a very long time…fifteen years if he remembered right, Sirius had been bad after twelve years and he'd had his Animagus form to help him, he didn't want to think of the mental state Rabastan was in and if he was anything like his sister-in-law Bellatrix, then there was absolutely no way in this lifetime that he'd even consider an engagement at the end of their betrothal contract, let alone a marriage.

* * *

><p>Xerxes Lestrange smiled at the document in his hands. Irrefutable proof that Harry James Potter was fertile and able to carry a child within his body. Lucius had willing produced the document when he had, rightly so, demanded proof of the nearly unbelievable claims that Lucius had made that the son he'd adopted had the gene that allowed him to carry a baby when he'd made the initial contract request for his Rabastan.<p>

He laughed to himself, he should have suspected something like this…that boy was far too small and slim to be anything other than a gene carrier, but he had reasoned that the boy was still growing.

It was his soft face and that delicate, fragile looking body combined with this document, which was signed by two different Healers from Saint Mungos, that made the connection click. It had been so long since there had been a confirmed gene carrier who actually _wanted _to exercise their rare ability and have a child grown in their bodies that it was just a natural reaction now to disbelieve someone who claimed that they carried the gene.

The problem now was his stubborn, idiot son and his overprotective older Grandson, both of whom opposed the match. His son was easily cowed, having abandoned his own sons to go and live in India for a decade and a half, leaving him to raise his two Grandsons, one of whom had been just an infant, so Xerxes readily pointed out that they were more his sons and that Rhadamanthus had no right to claim them as his own.

Rodolphus however was harder to convince, he felt that Rabastan wasn't ready for the complicated bonding process of a betrothal contract and that the meetings would be a disaster because it was too soon. Xerxes was ready to agree with his older Grandson when he thought back to the way that Rabastan had to take the lead from Rodolphus before he could do anything, but Lucius was looking for an immediate betrothal for his newly adopted son before anyone tried to do so on the boy's behalf, Dumbledore for example. Lucius and Harry couldn't afford to wait and neither could he. He needed Rabastan married and he needed him to have Heirs and soon and as an escapee of Azkaban, it was going to be very difficult for him to even question another Pureblood family about a possible marriage between them and his Grandson…this way, with Lucius' contract, he could have the marriage between Rabastan and a fertile Pureblood to get the Heirs his family needed and keep his Grandson safe at the same time. It was the only way and he couldn't afford to wait until Rabastan was more himself before accepting this contract, because Lucius was not going to wait around. Who knew when another offer like this would come up for Rabastan?

Azkaban had ruined the both of his Grandsons and Xerxes was never more distraught or furious as the day that they had been arrested and sentenced to life in Azkaban. He'd had his manor house searched several times after that incident looking for 'evidence' that it had been a planned attack, but they'd never found anything at his home because it hadn't been planned at his home. His Grandsons were both reasonably intelligent men and had known that if he'd gotten so much as a sniff of what they were doing then he'd have put an immediate stop to it, not because he wasn't loyal to his Lord, and his very old school friend at that, but because he would have known that it was a suicide mission and he would have stopped them and encouraged them to wisely bide their time instead of going after the Aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom.

In hindsight it was obvious that they hadn't known anything, what with their Lord telling them what had really happened with the baby Harry Potter, but emotions had been running high and for them, the truly loyal, it had been a time of great despair and a good few of them had almost outed themselves in the emotional lack of sanity that had followed the demise of their Lord. Or at least they had believed it was his demise until the rumours had started spreading of him still being alive.

Xerxes had followed these rumours carefully; he had subtly searched and gathered together some compelling evidence. He had never been more happy than when he'd seen his Lord again for the first time. He hadn't been in the graveyard for his Lord's rebirth, though. He'd been in Albania searching out information, which had become more than just mere rumours to him at that time. He'd been welcomed back as an old friend once he'd gotten himself back to Britain after he had felt his mark heat up for the first time in thirteen long years and after his Lord had seen from his mind that he had been searching for him and planning for his return, he had been named as one of his Lord's most loyal followers, as he always had been.

He had mourned for the lost men that his boys were though and what they could have been, what they could have done had they stayed out of Azkaban, but Frank and Alice Longbottom had been famous, popular Aurors, the reason why his two Grandsons, Bellatrix and the young Barty Crouch had believed they'd had information on their Lord, but inevitably the Wizengamot, devoid of most Pureblood Lords that day thanks to Barty Crouch senior, had punished them harshly with a life sentence in Azkaban.

He had tried over and over again, as many times as he could within a singular calendar year, to appeal the sentence for Rabastan and Rodolphus, but if he wasn't ignored completely, he was denied without anyone hearing his full appeal, which angered him immensely.

His house had been raided twice so far this year by the Aurors, with warrants to search his property as he wouldn't let them onto his grounds without one, to search for his two Grandsons as he was continuously accused of harbouring them. Something he was actually guilty of, but this house was old…old, crooked and misshapen. It was incredibly easy to hide small alcoves behind tapestries, in the back of cupboards and even in the walls themselves, the very reason for the unsymmetrical exterior that the Lestranges were ridiculed for, but not a single raid on this manor house had ever yielded results, something that the other Pureblood families, with their perfect, pretty, immaculately measured manors, couldn't boast.

His wards would alert him to the presence of Aurors on his grounds, as they had to walk up his driveway as he refused to lift the anti-trespassing wards on his estate, at which point he sent his house elf to Rodolphus and Rabastan and they hid themselves in the very walls of the manor house until the danger had passed.

Xerxes got the feeling that the Aurors knew that his boys were here, it was obvious that they were here, but without the proof, every failed raid was a stain on the Auror records and built proof for him to file against them for selective harassment, which would look terrible in the newspapers for them as he was now of an 'advanced' age. Regardless of who he was or what his Grandsons had done, the harassment and continuous hounding of an elderly wizard who had proved his 'innocence' repeatedly was not going to go down well for the Aurors with the wizarding public. Thus he and his beloved Grandsons were mostly left alone for them to heal and when they did have any _visitors_ he could hide them safely without any fear that they'd be found.

He thanked his early ancestors for being paranoid bastards and being intelligent and cunning enough to be able to build this house themselves with so many hidden rooms, alcoves and hollow walls that everything the Ministry would class as 'unsavoury', even his Grandsons, could be hidden safely and the Aurors who came to search his house didn't find anything that they were looking for, even though they found the more obvious hidden rooms, even the steps to the underground basement which were located in the back of the pantry, the only found them because he had let the Aurors see these rooms and he happily allowed them to think that they'd uncovered his 'secret' hiding places, all of which were clean and free of all subjects that were considered 'dark' by the Ministry, which left the Aurors frustrated and angry at their continuous failed raids.

All of his books on Dark magic were kept in a second library that was completely sealed off on all sides and could only be accessed by a painting on the second floor that had to be tapped with a wand in the correct sequence before it turned into a doorway. All of his dark artefacts were in several rooms that were all sealed in a similar way, but never exactly the same way, for safety reasons.

He went to find his Grandsons now, not surprised to find Rabastan sat nearly on his brother's lap, clutching at him as Rodolphus tried his best to accommodate his more than bulky brother while attempting to read a book.

"Rabastan, stop trying to climb your brother like a tree. Sit properly." He encouraged as he took the seat opposite them.

Rabastan did so reluctantly, but his hand slipped down to entwine with his older brother's. Xerxes sighed, it was likely the best that he was going to get, which was an improvement from when the two had first been broken out of the prison several months ago when Rabastan wouldn't even go to the bathroom on his own and they'd slept together in the same bed, entwined tightly around one another's bodies like lovers.

"I've just finalised the contract for you to sign. It has been confirmed by Saint Mungos that Harry Potter is a gene carrier and he is fully able to fall pregnant, so there are no problems in going ahead with the betrothal, our Lord is very pleased with this contract, tying Harry Potter to one of his most loyal followers and with the boy actually going through with it too, he's very pleased."

"It's too soon, Grandfather. Rabastan isn't ready for such things…it's too intricate, the fine nuances and political manoeuvres are going to be too much for him, for the both of us, to handle and neither of us want to embarrass the Lestrange name through our actions at the bonding meetings, in front of the Malfoys no less."

"I'm sure it'll all be fine, Rodolphus. We have some time to prepare, but your brother will be forty years old in just a few more years, it's far past the time for him to marry. You yourself were married at fifteen; thanks in part to your idiot of a Father, but still, you are married. All Lestranges have married straight out of school, Rabastan is the only exception."

"This is because I can't have a child with Bellatrix, isn't it?" Rodolphus asked through gritted teeth.

"It certainly doesn't help." Xerxes said sternly. "After you both, there is no Heir to the Lestrange line…our family; our _heritage_, will die with you both if you remain childless. Do you want that?! To be the ones to end our proud, noble heritage because you didn't feel ready to take up your mantles and produce a legitimate child for our line? We are the only ones left! We are down to just four men in the entire line and there are no more out branches of our family tree to rely on, they've all died out. I have done my part, your Father, as useless as he is, has done his part by having you both, at this moment we are on the cusp of extinction, it's time for you to have as many children as possible to bulk up the chances of our line surviving another generation and as you are never going to have a child with Bellatrix then this pressure will fall solely on Rabastan as the only one left to do so…I will see this betrothal match made and I will see you married and with children."

"Where do I sign?" Rabastan asked.

"There." Xerxes pointed out to his Grandson and watched critically as Rabastan took out the wand he was using in place of the one that was in Ministry control, split the tip of his finger and took the quill that was handed to him, dipped it into the well of blood on the tip of his finger and then signed his name neatly, if a bit shakily, with his right hand, on the line at the end of the contract. Harry's signature was already signed neatly on the contract, in blood, which made this betrothal a legally binding, magical contract where the terms outlined in the contract had to be fulfilled.

"I still say that it's too soon for Rabastan to even be thinking of a betrothal contract. We are not even fully healthy, Grandfather!"

"I will hear no more of this, you have time to prepare and there is a week before Lucius has scheduled the first meeting, we are to go straight to our Lord afterwards, he wishes to know, from us personally, how the meeting goes with Potter. He is counting on us and we will not let him down."

Xerxes strode away with the signed contract and he immediately sent it back to Lucius. He mourned for the men that his Grandsons could have been, but he would not see his line end with them both, there would be a new generation of Lestranges, even if he had to force the issue in order for it to happen.

* * *

><p>Harry bounced his knee against the floor and he shifted his shoulders uncomfortably as Narcissa had dressed him impeccably to the back teeth, not only in his finest, most expensive set of new robes, but also in Malfoy family heirlooms, Potter jewels and Black gold and silver. He felt like a fucking pack horse.<p>

"Calm yourself." Lucius insisted. "You are a Pureblood, a Lord to the Potter and Black families and an adopted son of the Malfoy family. Stay calm, clear and be concise."

"I remember my first conversation with Astoria." Draco told him, his face pulling into a thoughtful faraway look as he stretched his memory all the way back to when he was six years old.

"Was it over which toys you wanted to play with?" Harry chucked.

Draco snorted. "Funnily enough, it was. She wanted to play with my brand new toy broomstick, that I'd only gotten a few days before if I remember rightly, and I didn't want her to touch it. I think I hit her with it."

"You did." Lucius said. "I was sucking up to Lord Greengrass for the next two years until I finally got him a deal that he couldn't refuse and the power was rightfully switched back to me. The things I went through for you."

Draco huffed. "I was six!" He insisted.

"You hit a three year old girl over the head with a toy broom because she wanted to play with it."

Harry couldn't hold in his laughter and after a short burble, he had to struggle with himself as he strived to contain his amusement, taking in huge, deep breaths and holding it to regain his composure.

"Laugh it up, Potter."

"Less of that, Draco. You're brothers." Narcissa chastised. "I would not have had any sons of mine refer to each other by anything other than their first names."

"Yes, Mother." Draco acquiesced meekly.

"It's no wonder you prefer her sister if your first meeting with Astoria was you not willing to share anything and then hitting her."

"Less of that too, Harry." Narcissa told him. "Draco's…_activities_ will not be shared so loosely with others."

Harry nodded. "I understand." He said before he could get a hex to the head for not using his words.

"Rabastan isn't so bad; you could have been stuck with any other number of hideous and weak wizards." Draco assured him. "Of course he is my Uncle's brother through marriage, so I'm obligated to tell you his good qualities."

"What about his bad qualities?" Harry asked nervously.

Draco shrugged. "I've only met him a handful of times since he got out of Azkaban and I was too young to remember him before he was imprisoned. He never leaves his brother's side and he doesn't speak either. He relied heavily on his brother while in Azkaban and now he can't do anything without him. It's only in the last few months that he's stopped clinging to his brother's arm all day every day. I'd heard that they even had to share the same bed."

"Enough." Lucius cut in sternly. "Our guests will be here momentarily, the Lestranges are not known for lateness. I will not risk having them hear such talk which could then compromise Harry's betrothal."

"Will…will he even speak to me?" Harry asked. He got a smack to the back of the head with the familiar hex for speaking when Lucius had closed the topic.

"He will." He was told tersely and he bit his tongue to stave off his other questions.

He sipped at his tea and tried not to spill it in the flimsy, vintage, china cup, nor slam it down on the matching saucer. Narcissa hit him with a hex every single time he did that and she got a sour look on her face too, for daring to risk her finest china with his rough handling.

"I'm going to be sick." He said softly.

"No you're not, you'll be just fine." Lucius all but demanded of him.

Narcissa came over to him however, standing behind the settee that he was sat on and she stroked her hands across his slim, narrow shoulders and hummed lightly to him, calming and soothing him and Harry sunk into her hands, into her care for him, he'd never known anything else like it before and he found himself craving it desperately.

"Stop pandering to the boy Cissa, he's sixteen, not four."

"He wasn't raised as we raised our Draco; he's a different boy entirely, Lucius. We taught Draco how to handle pressure and nervousness, Harry hasn't had that luxury."

"You handle Quidditch matches alright." Draco told him.

"That's different. I can play Quidditch and I like it, it's just a game and the nerves make me perform better when I'm in the air. This is completely different; this is my future marriage I'm trying to sort out. It's not a game."

"Try and apply the same tactics." Narcissa told him kindly. "Use your nervousness to perform better today. Just remember what you've been taught. No nervous laughter, no embarrassing topics of conversation and don't create awkward silences, keep the conversation flowing."

"How do I do that when he won't speak?" Harry asked.

"He will speak, just be patient with him, he's still a man, Harry and he will have his pride. He just needs his brother to fall back on after all of the hardships that he's been forced through. He's just a little lost, is all."

Harry nodded and sucked in a shaky breath and let it out slowly. His nerves spiked back up when he thought about what the hell he was going to say, what did he say to a man who was thirty-six and had spent fifteen years in prison?

"What do I talk about?" He asked quietly.

"Your studies." Draco told him immediately. "How you're doing in school, what career you want, how many children you want. You're not here to talk about niceties; you're here to set up the budding beginnings of a marriage. Talk about your wealth, your Lordships, how you're enjoying the Wizengamot meetings. Do not mention the weather or anything else just as inane and nothing to do with the war, or you risk offending them or making yourself look completely foolish. Talk about anything you think will help the Lestranges realise that you'll be the perfect bride for Rabastan."

Harry snarled and went to stand up to pummel Draco into mush, but Narcissa jerked on his shoulders and sat him back down, swatting his head as she did so.

"There will be _none_ of that." She declared fiercely. "Don't goad him, Draco. It's far beneath this family. You know that he will be a consort, not a bride."

Harry calmed himself down, simmering the cold rage that had just been there, under the surface, waiting to come out. He didn't like this cold rage; he didn't like the thought that he'd take it out on just anyone when the one person that he wanted to unleash it on was Bellatrix. She had been the one to kill Sirius, it was her fault that he was dead and his body lost to the veil. He'd even tried to cast the Cruciatus curse on her…the next time he'd take her advice and really, truly mean it, right down to his very soul. The next time, she wouldn't be getting back up again and his curse would stick…

Harry felt a pinch to his shoulder and he took in a deeper than normal breath, but he didn't show any other sign that he'd been pinched by Narcissa. He looked to where Lucius was greeting four people, who had been shown in by a house elf, and he swallowed, his heart started racing and his palms started to sweat.

He remained seated as was expected of him and he greeted Xerxes Lestrange first as the head of the Lestrange family. He smiled genuinely; he liked Xerxes, even if he was always sniffing around his ankles. Which was a hilarious analogy really as the man was three times the size of Harry at six foot six at least, where Harry was still waiting for a growth spurt at five foot three.

"This is my son, Rhadamanthus." Xerxes introduced and Harry had to force a smile at the cold, calculating glitter in those pale eyes.

Rhadamanthus was shorter than his Father, at six foot two, but he had the same amount of muscle bulk and the same broad shoulders. It seemed that everything else he must have taken from his Mother, from the pale hair to the paler eyes.

Rhadamanthus squeezed his hand hard as he brought it to his lips, but instead of laying a simple pressure on the back of Harry's hand with his lips, the man flicked out the tip of his slimy tongue and licked it, the angle made it impossible for anyone to see him doing such a thing, even Harry himself couldn't see it, but he could feel it and he knew that the man had just offered him an insult.

He calmed himself and forced his body not to react to what had been done, he forced himself to ignore the glistening wet patch on the back of his hand and he had to fight with himself to keep from wiping it. Xerxes he liked…his son, Rhadamanthus, was a complete filthy pig.

"This is my oldest Grandson, Rodolphus." Xerxes carried on, not knowing that his son had just offended and insulted him and had actually slobbered all over the back of his hand.

Rodolphus looked a lot like his Grandfather, tall at six foot five, broad shouldered, bulky rib cage and narrow hips, but that thick, dark hair had thinned out and looked a little listless, there were lines on his face that had nothing to do with age and his left hand twitched randomly, sometimes the twitch would carry on through his arm and up to his neck which would bulge with the effort it took the man to suppress the tick from finishing its movement.

Rodolphus was the ruin of a man, a man who had once been young, strong and handsome, who was now plagued with nerve damage, thinning hair and a body that would have been stunning if not for a serious amount of prolonged weight loss. He was too thin to carry off the broad shoulders and the robe he was wearing was oddly misshapen because his body was supposed to be carrying at least double the amount of weight that it currently had.

"A pleasure to meet you, Lord Potter." The man said darkly, those dark eyes that he shared with his grandfather glittered in almost the exact same way that his Father's had. Harry wondered if this man was going to lick his hand too or just full out bite one of his fingers off.

He hadn't realised he'd been holding his breath until Rodolphus merely brushed his hand with his thin, too pale lips and then backed away. He was most definitely going to be sick, he swallowed hard.

"And this is my youngest Grandson, Rabastan, your betrothed."

Harry didn't want to look, but the lessons that Narcissa had beat into him wouldn't let him avoid looking. Rabastan seemed completely lost. There was no other way that Harry could describe the way that Rabastan was staring at his older brother, almost longingly, like he wanted his brother to come and get him and lead him to where he needed to be and he couldn't understand why his brother wasn't doing so.

"Rabastan, go and greet Lord Potter." Rodolphus told him in a quiet hiss, as if he were trying to keep the rest of the room from hearing him.

Rabastan was tall, taller than his Father, but shorter than his brother; it was hard to tell exactly how tall he was because he was hunched in on himself, as if for protection. His long, thin, rake like arms were crossed over his belly, as if to keep himself standing, his dark hair was just as thin and lifeless as his brother's.

His face was wrinkled, like a raisin that had once been a grape but had had all of the moisture slowly sucked out of it. It didn't look natural, it looked like it needed feeding and then all of that wrinkled skin would be full, perfect and unlined once again. Harry wondered if that was what Rabastan, and his brother, needed, feeding. Surely it couldn't hurt to feed them both, they were rail thin, where he suspected before they'd been imprisoned they'd been strong, healthy and reasonably big men.

They'd been out of Azkaban for several months now; Harry wondered how long it usually took to counter that amount of starvation. He knew from experience that he had to take things slowly once he got to Hogwarts after a summer with the Dursleys or he'd be sick, that was usually only two months' worth of a couple of missed meals. He couldn't imagine fifteen years in that prison, being fed the slop that Sirius had told him the prisoners were kept alive on.

Rabastan still didn't move though, staring beseechingly at his older brother, Harry could almost see him wondering why Rodolphus wasn't coming to his aid and he could sense the mounting embarrassment of the remaining Lestrange family members as Lucius, Narcissa, Draco and him just sat and watched Rabastan expectantly. He understood that this must have been highly humiliating for the Lestranges and particularly entertaining for the Malfoys. Harry wasn't having any of that though, he wouldn't let anyone sneer or poke fun at this poor, lost man regardless of anything else.

With the whole room looking on at him expectantly and with an air of amusement, it heaped a great deal of pressure onto Rabastan and he was clearly ill equipped to deal with it, so, as no one moved to help Rabastan at all, and another hissed command from his Father this time didn't garner any reaction either except to spurn Rabastan to stare harder at his brother, Harry stood suddenly, yet elegantly and he made his way to Rabastan, who cringed away from him, but thankfully he didn't take a step back. Harry had no wish to chase his betrothed around the front room of Malfoy Manor.

He smiled reassuringly at Rabastan and slipped his hand into one of the huge, but almost skeletal thin, hands of Rabastan and he tugged him to the settee he'd been sat on. He sat down and thankfully Rabastan followed suit. He didn't think it would be taken too kindly if he shoved the man to get him to sit down.

Now that Harry could see his face properly, he saw that Rabastan's eyes were a very dark blue, though they were dull with nightmarish memories, not the brown of his grandfather and brother and not the pale brown of his Father. Harry wondered where the blue had come into the Lestrange line.

Harry only realised that he was still holding Rabastan's hand when that thin, claw like hand clenched tight around his with an uncontrollable spasm. Harry gasped and tried not to yank his hand away and do more damage to it, but once the spasm had passed, he couldn't help but pull it away, cradling his injured hand to his chest protectively. There was some serious strength in that ruined body, enough so that he'd thought that Rabastan could have easily crushed his hand with a bit more pressure.

"This is not going at all like I'd hoped." Xerxes sighed sadly as he watched Harry inspect his hand critically.

"I told you that it was too soon, Grandfather." Rodolphus said as he came to sit behind Rabastan and he clenched those shoulders tight in a hug, comforting his confused, lost looking brother, who turned to him and smiled for the first time since he'd arrived upon recognising who was touching him.

"Dolphus." He said happily.

Rodolphus sighed and he looked at Harry with a little less venom than he had before.

"I apologise for my brother's actions, he can't control them. Neither of us can." He said sourly.

"I understand and I don't hold it against either of you." Harry replied clearly after a short pause. "If Rabastan isn't ready for this, then maybe it was a mistake."

That venomous, glittery eyed look came back quicker than a flash and Rodolphus actually bared his teeth at him like an enraged, feral dog.

"Is that your attempt at subtlety? Your roundabout way of rejected my brother? He is still a Lestrange and deserves the respect of at least one full meeting before you just up and reject him!"

Harry took a breath and calmed himself, pushing away his fear and his anger.

"I can see how my words have been easily misconstrued." He said politely. "I wasn't subtly or otherwise trying to break the betrothal between us, just observing that perhaps this could have waited another couple of months, at least until the Winter break. The news of this betrothal is new to the both of us; perhaps it would have gone smoother if we'd had more time to digest the contents of the contract first."

Rodolphus had the wind taken from his sails at that and he deflated a little, his shoulders shaking from the exertion of keeping them raised even for a short amount of time. He looked to his Grandfather.

"I see what you mean, Grandfather. He has got a tongue of silver."

"You should have seen him put down that jumped up mudblood Head of Magical Transportation in the Wizengamot meeting. He ripped him to pieces in a slow, deliberate way that completely ruined all of his points of view and left him unable to come back from such a blow. A little sixteen year old wisp of nothing rationalising such a complex situation and coming up with that compelling argument, on his own mind you, and that mudblood was completely lost for words, he couldn't even formulate a comeback, he was just gaping and mouthing like an uncivilised beast. I've never laughed so hard internally; I thought I was going to rupture my spleen."

Harry let out a soft choke of laughter before he inhaled deeply and got control of himself again, adjusting his posture and relaxing his shoulders as he dropped his hands to his lap.

"It was my pleasure to…_enlighten _him on the flaws of his proposal." He answered instead, to cover for his slip of composure.

"You've really done well with him, Lucius. Imagine, just five weeks and you've turned him into this magnificent, intelligent beauty." Xerxes complimented.

"Thank you, Xerxes. It wasn't at all as difficult as you might believe. There is a reasonably strong, sound mind hidden under that hair."

"You're really beautiful."

Harry looked, startled, at Rabastan to find the man studying him incredibly hard, focusing on every feature of his face. It immediately stopped him from pouting at Lucius' roundabout compliment or complaining to him for making it, which likely would have earned him a punishment later, once the Lestranges had left.

Harry had expected Rabastan to have a shaky voice, that perhaps cracked or went through different pitches and octaves, but it was the opposite. His voice was strong, deep and even, an almost complete contrast to his appearance. His voice hadn't changed over the years, but his appearance had. Harry found himself desperate to see the healthy body that matched that strong, deep voice.

Harry smiled at him. "Thank you for your compliment."

"Your eyes are different. Most Purebloods have brown or blue eyes, or grey, but they're rarer. Your eyes are green. I hope our children have your eyes."

"Calm yourself, Rabastan; you're here to talk about an engagement, not about potential children." Rodolphus chastised his brother.

"Since I lost my last betrothal fourteen years ago I've had no one else of worth express interest in me." Rabastan told his brother. "Who else will I marry and have children with if not the one who took the initiative and set up a contract with me?"

"What did I tell you about not sounding desperate?" Rhadamanthus snarled.

"He doesn't sound desperate, I assure you." Harry cut in as Rabastan drew back and reached for his brother's hand. "There's nothing wrong with thinking about children nor asking if your betrothed would like them. I would like them. I haven't much thought about how many I'd like yet as I am still young, but if I'm honest; I'd like at least three."

"Most Purebloods don't have more than two, Harry." Narcissa told him patiently.

"I know, but I'm not most people, am I? I'd like as many children as I can get, but three is a minimum. Though I am open to hearing debates."

"You won't get any from me." Rabastan told him. That made Harry smile at him.

"Under usual circumstances I would advise you to stick to two or three children, but as the Lord for the Potter and the Black families, I would believe you have enough wealth to cover more if you wished for them and that is without carrying the Heir for the Lestrange line or taking into account the wealth of your potential Husband."

"Rodolphus is still the Heir as my oldest son." Rhadamanthus hissed.

"Don't act foolish." Xerxes demanded of his son. "Rodolphus and Bellatrix are not going to have children together; they can't even stand in the same room without infuriating each other. You well and truly messed that match up, if I had known about it, I would have stopped you, those boys are more mine than they are yours and a Ministry hearing would declare them as such, as you well and truly know."

Harry had done as he had sworn to do and he'd sent a clipped letter to Bellatrix, sealed with a blob of black wax with the Black family crest blotted onto it, which ordered her to have a fertility test. The results had come to him as her Head of House and the test had come back positive, she was fertile and able to have children; the problem it seemed wasn't an issue of fertility, but an issue of actually getting the two parties into bed together and actually engaging in activities that would lead to a child and not to the death of one or both of them.

Bellatrix was completely in love with Voldemort and Rodolphus resented Bellatrix for a multitude of reasons including her disinterest in him, the disrespect she showed him, her obvious love and longing for their Lord and to an extent, her older age over himself. That and Bellatrix was no beauty like her other two sisters. It was widely believed that overuse of dark magic had disfigured and twisted her and Azkaban was no spa resort either.

"What electives have you taken this year?" Rodolphus asked him, seemingly content to warm up a little to him from his venomous malice that he'd shown when he'd arrived.

"I'm still taking Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Astrology, History of Magic and Herbology, but I'm also taking Arithmancy and Ancient Runes as I passed in both of the exams I took over the summer to catch up. I had to take both my entry level exams and my O. within weeks of each other."

"Which electives were you taking before?"

Harry grimaced. "Divination and Care of Magical Creatures, both of which I was going to drop as useless subjects this year. I regret taking them both now and in hindsight, I wish I had taken Arithmancy and Ancient Runes from the beginning, I have so much to catch up on, but Draco is helping me too."

"I was looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures." Draco put in.

"I was as well." Harry sighed. "Unfortunately Hagrid's idea of a magical creature doesn't fall below four X's on the Ministry's classification guide, which would be brilliant if not for the lack of direction and safety. Those Blast-Ended Skrewts were particularly dangerous and disgusting."

"I'm telling you he bred those things himself. There is no way that the Ministry's Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures department would have allowed those beasts out to the public."

Harry chuckled. "You just didn't know how to handle them!" He insisted.

"Funny, I seem to remember you being dragged around on your belly in one particular class. Leashing those monsters and having to walk them like they were mere crups!" Draco huffed indignantly.

Harry couldn't help it as he threw his head back and laughed. "Do you remember the lesson where one of them set Crabbe on fire?"

It was Draco's turn to snort in laughter. "I couldn't forget it, I share a dorm room with him, he was blistered all along his one side, including his face."

"Did it make much of an improvement?" Harry inquired in his best innocent tone of voice.

"Boys, calm yourselves." Lucius cautioned them.

"Oh, let the boys talk, it's entertaining. No one cares for those Crabbes; Vincent was matched to a thirty year old witch from Slovenia. Her blood is questionable as they claim she was born of her Father's Pureblooded Wife who died in 'childbirth', but there are rumours that she's the daughter of her Father's Muggle bit on the side and that he killed his Wife to stop her from telling the truth about his Halfblooded wench."

"Wouldn't a blood test clear that up?" Harry questioned politely.

"It would clear it up perfectly, but adding fire to the rumours, he refuses to produce definitive proof that his daughter had Pure blood and hides behind a wall of indignant anger that anyone would dare ask about his daughter's blood purity or dare call him a liar. I refused a contract between her and Rabastan immediately and answered back that I was insulted that he even considered his Halfblooded bitch to be a worthy match of my Rabastan."

Harry chuckled politely, but he had to wonder what Xerxes thought he was, because Harry was actually a Halfblood, even if he had been legitimised. Was the Lestrange family actually that desperate for a match for Rabastan? Draco had told him that the four men were the last of their line and that even the far out branches of their once large and illustrious tree had thinned and then dwindled to nothing until the four men in this room were the last of their line and Rodolphus was married to Bellatrix who would not be producing an Heir for the Lestrange line and Rabastan, who was not a good catch at the moment because he was an escaped felon and he was ruined by a decade and a half in Azkaban.

Harry didn't care for such physical aesthetics; he knew that given some time and a lot of decent meals and certain potions then Rabastan and Rodolphus would be perfectly healthy, handsome men again. They'd always be mentally scarred from their fifteen year stint in Azkaban, locked in with the Dementors, but the physical damage done by the prison and the lack of truly nutritious food would disappear over time.

They were served tea and tiny, dainty little cakes an hour later at Lucius' command to a house elf; neither Rodolphus or Rabastan touched the food and Harry wondered why, surely such a little cake would help them.

"We're on strict diets." Rodolphus told him when Harry had politely inquired. "To help us gain the maximum weight in as little time as possible we have to stick to a strict regime of food and potions to help us combat the damage that Azkaban has done. Even something as small as those cakes would throw us off of a seven month plan and could do us more harm than good. We need to stick to our scheduled eating times and our specially tailored meal plans or we might be forced to go back to square one and start all over again."

"Do not mention that to your brother's potential suitor!" Rhadamanthus hissed.

Harry could hold back the chuckle. "It's not as if we can't all see the ramifications of their fifteen years in Azkaban. Why shouldn't it be mentioned?"

"Harry!" Lucius growled at him and Harry closed himself off immediately.

He resettled himself, straightened his spine, pulled his shoulders back and adjusted his chin to sit at a ninety degree angle. He looked straight ahead and kept an empty, vapid smile on his face as his hands curled together in his lap.

"No, he's right. It's obvious that we've both been in Azkaban, look at us! We're hardly the picture of virile health and with our uncontrollable twitches, it's not like we can hide it. Rabastan almost crushed Lord Potter-Black's hand!" Rodolphus spat at his Father.

A soft touch to said hand had Harry curiously peeking, he couldn't help it as his curiosity won out over a potential hex to the head for dropping his chin, but he found Rabastan's hand touching his own, not gripping it like he had when Harry had led him to the settee, but his shaky fingers brushed over the top of his hand gently as he cradled it in his hand.

Harry smiled and put his other hand over the top of Rabastan's holding it tight.

"I think we can leave it here for today." Lucius said. "They seemed to be receptive to one another and that's really all the first meeting looks for between the betrothed."

Xerxes Lestrange agreed with Lucius and Harry said a soft goodbye to Rabastan, honestly sorry to see him go. They hadn't interacted much, but there was a smothered vulnerability to the youngest Lestrange that Harry couldn't help but notice and it made him want to protect the older man and nurse him back to health. He hoped that he got to see more of Rabastan before he had to go back to Hogwarts; he had genuinely enjoyed his company.

* * *

><p>AN: I'm so very pleased at the response that this story has garnered! I'm so happy, thank you to all of you for your feedback and reviews, I loved reading all of them and hearing what you thought of this new fic! I decided to give you the second chapter early as I am so pleased with the response it's gotten!

A huge thank you to **Lauren Saint** for being the **100****th**** reviewer** for this fic. I still can't believe I got a hundred with just the one chapter and I hope that you've all enjoyed this chapter just as much!

StarLight Massacre. X


	3. Hogwarts

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to **Of Stories Told**, for two incredible reviews and that last one, lovelie was just epically immense. Thank you so very much and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you did the first two.

_Last Time_

"_I think we can leave it here for today." Lucius said. "They seemed to be receptive to one another and that's really all the first meeting looks for between the betrothed." _

_Xerxes Lestrange agreed with Lucius and Harry said a soft goodbye to Rabastan, honestly sorry to see him go. They hadn't interacted much, but there was a smothered vulnerability to the youngest Lestrange that Harry couldn't help but notice and it made him want to protect the older man and nurse him back to health. He hoped that he got to see more of Rabastan before he had to go back to Hogwarts; he had genuinely enjoyed his company._

Chapter Three – Hogwarts

Harry had finished all of his sixty-three books by the third week of August, including three apiece on Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, which Lucius and Draco were helping him with.

He'd been spanked again twice, once for throwing his book in a fit of anger (it had gone through a window and had hit one of Lucius' prized albino peacocks) and the second had been for fighting with Draco. It had gone from duelling practice to a full out fist fight in which Harry had gotten a busted lip and Draco was sporting an imprint of Harry's teeth in the side of his rib cage…indents that had broken the skin and had welled up with drops of blood. Draco had been called uncouth and had gone over his Father's knee; Harry had been called a barbarian savage and had gone over his Father's knee. They had been further punished by being forced to stand in opposite corners of Lucius' study, facing the wall while Lucius worked at his desk behind them. They had stayed there, silently and unable to move or even fidget, for forty minutes. Which had seemed like an eternity to Harry, who had wanted nothing more than to stretch his legs out.

They'd been made to apologise to one another and shake hands 'like civilised men' before they'd been allowed to leave Lucius' study.

Harry had met with the four Lestranges a further five times since his first initial meeting and he was now a little more comfortable talking to Rabastan and his older brother, Rodolphus, but he still did not like or trust Rhadamanthus at all. The man, and Harry used that term lightly, made sure to insult and belittle him as often as he could without letting on that that was what he was doing. Harry swore that he would not forget a single instance where Rhadamanthus had insulted him and he would repay him back in kind once he was in a better position to do so. He would bide his time and he would get his own revenge on the vile man.

Allegedly his and Rabastan's betrothal meetings were going very well; Harry didn't know what was happening, so he just went with it and agreed. The next time that he met with Rabastan, they were going to go on a chaperoned walk around the gardens of Malfoy Manor. Harry had almost laughed himself sick at that and had earned two hexes to his head for lack of composure and still he had been wiping away tears of laughter afterwards.

He still got a barrage of owls daily from the Weasleys, from Dumbledore, from Hermione and from Remus. He even got letters from members of the Order, some of them he'd never even spoken to before …but Harry was now required to reply to letters from Rabastan, so he could only send half the amount of the letters he had been sending to Remus previously because his 'mail allowance' was being eaten up by required letters to Rabastan as his betrothed.

He was surprised to find that he actually enjoyed receiving letters from Rabastan, the man was a little hair brained in his letters and his cursive needed a lot of work because his random twitches meant that he had huge score marks through his parchment, leaving behind blots and scrawls of ink that made it difficult to read, but when Harry had deciphered the words under the scratches and blots, he found himself laughing and smiling at the letters. Rabastan was able to make him laugh at just a letter and it always made him wish that their next meeting was that much closer, so that he could see him sooner.

It was very, very difficult to place Rabastan, and hell, even Rodolphus, into the mould of Bellatrix. Though they had been in Azkaban for the same amount of time, Harry reasoned that Bellatrix had had to have been insane _before_ she'd gone to Azkaban, or at the very least she'd had to have been mentally unhinged. He remembered how she was from the Ministry, how she acted and spoke, the irrational mutterings and the gleam of insanity in her dark, hooded eyes.

Comparing her to the Lestrange brothers, it was like comparing a pair of wolves to a manticore. All of them were dangerous, but the wolves were more likely to back away from a fight and a manticore never would. It was incredibly violent and dangerous and would not give up until its prey was dead. He understood that the Lestrange brothers were no saints, of course he did, but after everything he was finding out about people he had thought he'd known, he was beginning to think that no one in the wizarding world were.

He was also sure that Lucius Malfoy was drugging him with potions or something, a few drops of calming draught in his breakfast, it's not like he couldn't buy them easily enough, or even get them made for him, he was friends with Snape after all, but Harry just couldn't bring himself to care anymore.

Everything that he had known was a lie, his world had been turned upside down, what was he supposed to do now? He hadn't wanted to stay with the Dursleys, he didn't want to impose on the Weasleys and frankly speaking, there was nothing he could do about his adoption. He was the legal ward of Lucius Malfoy whether he liked it or not, so why shouldn't he take advantage of what that offered to him while he could? He was having lessons, he was learning two new subjects, he had all the books he could wish for, he was being taught what he needed to know about his Lordships and his estates and he was learning things that he knew Dumbledore would never have taught him. Why shouldn't he accept all of that for himself, even if it was from Lucius Malfoy?

He was taking all of this a lot better than he thought he would have, especially after his blow up in Gringotts bank and the icy anger he'd been carrying around with him, which is why he suspected potions involvement, but he really did not care. He would learn everything that he possibly could, he would set up a name and a life for himself, and he would marry Rabastan Lestrange. The man was too influential to pass up, his name added to the Lestrange family would give him considerable clout and a certain level of respect and he could then pass that onto his future children. Plus he knew that Dumbledore would hate him marrying a Lestrange, which was part of why he had accepted the man in the first place, so that he could spite Dumbledore and his fucking plans, but seeing Rabastan, so hurt and lost and utterly ruined from Azkaban, a skeleton of a man, Harry found that he wanted to marry Rabastan to help him, not to abuse him further. He didn't have it in him to abuse a man who was already suffering so much. Who was he to kick a poor man who was already down on the floor and hunched over?

No, he would marry Rabastan and he would make a life for himself and even if he had to spoon the potions into his mouth, sooth him through nightmares in the middle of the night and massage his muscles through the painful twitching and cramping, he would raise and nurse Rabastan back to full health. Or as much as he possibly could, as he was almost sure that Rabastan would never be fully recovered from his long years spent in Azkaban, a place like that with so much exposure to the Dementors had to cause permanent damage in one way or another, but he would do his utmost best to help Rabastan. He would get the life that he had always dreamed of, he would have a Husband and he would have children and he would live as peacefully as he could. No Dumbledore, no Dursleys and no war, just him, Rabastan and their children. That's all he wanted and he was going to do his all to get that, even if he had to take orders and spankings from Lucius, if he had to take elocution and posture lessons from Narcissa and even if he had to let Draco stare down his nose at him and teach him Arithmancy and Ancient Runes in that haughty drawl.

He would sit and take it all without a murmur, because he was learning what he needed to know in order to advance himself. He would make a name for himself and he would make Lucius and Narcissa proud of him, because it's all he'd ever really wanted and now that he was free of the Dursleys and free of Dumbledore and his responsibilies towards the wizarding world regarding the war, he was going to everything that he wanted to do and what made _him_ happy, starting with learning as much as he possibly could, making his adoptive parents proud in the process and he was going to start the budding of his future marriage to Rabastan, he would get what he wanted, because he wasn't going to give up until he had his dream come true.

* * *

><p>Today Harry was being taken to another Wizengamot meeting, only this time Lucius was actually going ahead of him and Harry was to use the Portkey in his ring for the first time in preparation for the new school year and to prove that the lessons he'd been taking on magical forms of travelling were going to allow him to keep his feet and walk away elegantly once he landed at the Ministry.<p>

He was naturally nervous as Lucius was going to be watching his every small movement upon landing. Harry just hoped that he didn't fall flat on his face like he had two years ago at the Quidditch World Cup…at least then he'd had several other people fall flat on their faces like he had, today he was going to be alone, he was going to have to land alone and there would be no one to laugh it off with if he did land flat on his face. He would be thoroughly humiliated and he would bring shame to the Malfoy family and to himself. He couldn't allow that to happen.

He took several deep, even, calming breaths and waited for his Portkey to activate, counting it down so that he was prepared for when it actually activated instead of being caught off guard. As a result, he arrived at the Ministry and had taken a nice, even step forward on his arrival and he carried on taking steps forward, despite how blurry and unfocused his eyes were and how confused and dizzy he felt.

He blinked rapidly and his vision finally cleared and his head stopped spinning and the wave of nausea ebbed away and he found Lucius staring at him hard, his mouth a neutral line, but his slate grey eyes glittered with pride and as Harry made it to him and Lucius fell in step beside him, one long, slender hand touched his elbow and squeezed.

"I am very proud of you in this moment." Lucius told him. "You have worked hard, you've listened to everything you've been told and today, you didn't even hesitate to take a step forward, you looked so elegant and poised."

Harry's lips twitched, but he pulled it back and took another breath; he found that it helped to centre him so he could keep his composure better.

They took the lift down into the depths of the Ministry and they got off on the second level which held the meeting room for the Wizengamot, they only used the courtrooms for actual trials.

Harry went out of his way to greet Lord Xerxes Lestrange before anyone else in the room and he fell into easy conversation with him. He knew explicably that any talk of Rodolphus or Rabastan was forbidden, as was his betrothal, or any mention that he was joining the Lestrange family. He'd already shoved his foot into his mouth at the last Wizengamot meeting by exclaiming, loudly, that he was betrothed to an escaped felon…if anyone had heard him that day then he and Lucius could have been arrested and questioned with Veritaserum. He'd been punished incredibly harshly for that slip up and he'd been made to swear that it would _never_ happen again.

"Lord Potter-Black, it is nice to see you so close to the new school year."

Harry plastered on a false smile as he turned from the witch he had been greeting to face the short, stumpy wizard with the thick, black moustache that took up most of the lower half of his face. "Of course. I have to come to every meeting called, you know that." Harry replied in a way that showed his scepticism of the man's intelligence without actually coming out and saying it, Lucius had taught him how to do that too. Harry remembered this vile wizard from his hearing last year…he'd voted in favour of him being convicted of all crimes. Him and his little posse of ugly, elderly witches. He'd never forgive any of them for trying to convict him and get him expelled from Hogwarts.

"I would have believed you'd be getting ready for school."

"I'm all ready for the new term. Draco and I went with Mother and Father to collect our new books, robes and equipment earlier this week, neither of us wanted to deal with the rabble that comes from the last minute rush to fight and argue over the remaining dregs."

"Well, my niece's daughter is about your age, you know. Perhaps you'd like to get to know one another so that you might get closer? She goes to Beauxbatons you see."

"I'm sorry; all betrothal suitors must go through my Father." Harry said promptly, grinning internally as he imagined the look on Lucius' face if this Halfblood actually petitioned one of his sons for a betrothal.

The man blustered. "A betrothal? You are a sixteen year old boy and Pollyanne is just fifteen. Children your age shouldn't be thinking of marriage or things like betrothals!"

"Might I remind you that I am Lord Potter-Black and my status as such far exceeds yours. My Father believes me in need of a betrothal. He is currently searching for a match for me and I shall not go against his wishes. Excuse me."

Harry strode away to stand with Lucius and Xerxes, a few other Lords with them who were either accused of being Death Eaters themselves or their children were accused of being Death Eaters. He held back his grimace at being in such company by the skin of his teeth. He hated the situation that he had been forced into, associating with Death Eaters and the like and it was all because of Dumbledore, and Lucius to an extent for adopting him, but that had only been made possible because of Dumbledore's lies and manipulations, not to mention the neglect of him as his so called magical guardian.

"Your conversation with that imbecile seemed to be quite…_riveting_." One of the accused Death Eaters sneered.

"Not particularly." Harry answered calmly, his left hand fisted tight that social decorum insisted that he couldn't ignore someone who had directly spoken to him. "He wished to introduce me to his niece's daughter, apparently she is fifteen, around my own age, and he'd hoped that we would _get closer._" Harry stressed, keeping his facial expressions under control so that he wouldn't sneer at the thought of being with a fifteen year old girl.

"That's not quite in your desired betrothal prerequisites, is it?" One Lord, who actually wasn't a known Death Eater as far as he knew, teased him.

"Not entirely." Harry said allowing a small smirk to peek through.

"Gentlemen, and ladies, if you'd like to take your seats, I would call this meeting to order." The new Chief Warlock, a man definitely not on Dumbledore's preferred persons or recommendation list, called out to them as he took his seat at the head of the 'D' shaped table. His chair was the only one at the straight section of the table, which was otherwise filled with folders and pieces of parchment.

The rest of the Wizengamot members were sat around the curved table that allowed them all to see the Chief Warlock and able to see every member of the rest of the Wizengamot too. Harry was sat between Lucius and Xerxes again, as he had been in the previous meeting, ever since his betrothal had been officially signed with Rabastan.

"Our first order of business for this called meeting is a case of underaged magic in Hull. A twelve year old seems to have turned her Mother into a bird late last night."

"Were there witnesses?" One elderly wizard asked.

"Four. The girl was having a sleepover with her Muggle friends. It seems the Mother interrupted them and told the group of girls to be quieter, it being the middle of the night at the time, and the girl lost her temper and suddenly her Mother was flying around their heads and bouncing off of the windows. The Muggle girls saw everything."

Harry listened carefully and patiently as the members of the Wizengamot hemmed and hawed back and forth, each trying to be the one to get the others to agree with their points of view, yet not giving any clear solution to the situation. One member's solution was so harsh and over the top that Harry felt the need to offer up his own solution quicker than he usually would have, given that he was still observing and learning, but he couldn't see a young, twelve year old witch be expelled and have her wand snapped and her life ruined for an accidental outburst of magic. He wouldn't allow it.

"I believe." Harry started carefully and deliberately after hearing enough of his fellow members' mindless, insipid arguments and their weak points of view. "That this is just a case of magic reacting to high emotion, where the underage witch in question was feeling one particular strong emotion and she couldn't maintain her control over her juvenile magic. It lashed out which resulted in her Mother, the cause for the witch in question's emotional distress at the time, being 'removed' from the situation. I vote that the underage witch gets a warning and additional lessons on controlling emotional outbursts and the four Muggle witnesses be Obliviated."

"Lord Potter-Black raises a very strong observation. The witch in question claims to have not had her wand on her, or even near her when this incident occurred and to give credit to her story, there was no alert from the Trace on her wand and the last spell she had cast with it was the levitation charm. There were no other wands found at the property."

"Then there is no case against her. I vote in favour of Lord Potter-Black. The girl should be warned and have additional lessons and the four Muggles should have their memories of that night removed." One member said pompously.

"Have the four Muggles told anyone else of what transpired at their little _sleepover_?" Lucius asked silkily.

"No, Lord Malfoy. They have been under Ministry care since the incident."

Lucius nodded once. "Then I also vote in favour of Lord Potter-Black."

Harry controlled himself and kept still and calm as the majority of the Wizengamot voted in favour of his offered solution to the problem. He was getting better and better at this and he was making a name for himself, a real, proper name that he was building all on his own.

He was elated and overall, he was so very glad that Lucius Malfoy had adopted him as his own son six weeks ago now. He'd come such a long way in just six weeks, he'd learnt so much, had been taught so much and very soon he'd be back in Hogwarts, where Draco would help direct him, but where he'd mostly be left to stand on his own two feet, to bring pride to the Malfoy name, but more importantly, to bring pride to his _own_ name.

He'd worked so hard, he'd done absolutely nothing else in these last six weeks but read, learn and work hard, listening to instructions and receiving lessons from Lucius and Narcissa and even Draco. It had been such a hectic time, where he was always doing something, where he was always learning and being taught something new. He'd been dragged through a crash course in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, Draco had tested him and then tested him again, correcting him and showing where he was going wrong and why and he'd managed to only just scrape an 'A' in both subjects, just enough to get into the N.E.W.T classes, but he was still reading through several books on the subject and when he finished those, there would be another several afterwards. There was always something else to learn, always another book to read. It was never ending, but still he wouldn't change things, because he'd been blind to the deception and he'd been lied to and led around in the dark. He'd had no clue how deep it had gone until Lucius had opened his eyes for him. He couldn't go back to that now. He wouldn't ever go back, no matter what that now meant for his future. Everything had changed and his trust in Dumbledore had been thoroughly demolished and there would be no rebuilding anything. He was far too busy to waste his time on Dumbledore.

It was non-stop, but he was learning so much that he didn't care and with Lucius continuously pushing him, he never really had the time to just stop and think about anything. He continued with his lessons, he continued with his books, he studied hard for the Wizengamot meetings and he was perfect, poised and elegant in his meetings with Rabastan, which were going very well and Rabastan no longer needed his older brother, Rodolphus, to sit next to him when he came to visit him now. Rodolphus was able to sit on the settee opposite them and hold his own conversations with Lucius, Narcissa and Draco, or with his Father or Grandfather if he chose, while Harry sat and spoke softly to Rabastan, who had latched onto him on their fourth face to face meeting and now looked to him to help him and direct their conversations instead of relying solely on Rodolphus, which eased the stress off of both of the brothers.

Harry was getting better at coaxing an answer out of Rabastan and he was getting better at following the threads of their conversations, so that he would be able to offer words to Rabastan when he lost his train of thought or got tongue tied, which not only helped Rabastan, but it proved as well that Harry was listening and following what he was saying, which boosted his confidence.

Rabastan himself was also getting better and more comfortable and he was slowly creeping out of his shell. Harry had made his own observation that Rabastan's Father, Rhadamanthus, was not helping Rabastan to recover at all, what with his hissed comments and his sneers and snarls. He was at least civil to Rodolphus, but he was utterly vile to Rabastan and when Harry couldn't hold his tongue any longer and had pointed out the unfair treatment. His betrothed had told him that he hadn't seen his Father until he was nineteen years old and they hadn't liked one another then as Rhadamanthus was a complete stranger to him and Rabastan had not listened to a word his 'Father' had said thus causing friction and a lot of animosity between them. Then, just two short, horrible years later and Rabastan was thrown into Azkaban and he or Rodolphus hadn't seen the man who had abandoned them for another fifteen years.

No, Rhadamanthus was poisonous to Rabastan's recovery, Harry had to find a way to get rid of him and soon, especially after all the insults he'd given to him, especially the one on their very first meeting, he hadn't forgotten about that, he never would, and he would find a way to repay the man who had slobbered all over his hand and continued to insult him despite the fact, or maybe because of the fact, that he was betrothed to his youngest son.

The vile man was hurting his future Husband, he was holding him back and was threatening their marriage prospects, Harry couldn't have that happening, not when he had found that he actually liked Rabastan, who was such a strong, prideful man, who wanted so much to just protect him, but was currently unable to do so.

It was…mind opening to see, yet heart breaking at the same time to watch this ruin of a man trying to act like the strong protector that he wanted to be when he couldn't even stand up for more than half an hour at a time. It saddened him and it made him want to help Rabastan achieve the strength that he craved, the man that he needed to be to be fully happy. It was going to be a slow, painful road, but Harry was not going to give up on this. He was not going to give up on Rabastan or his betrothal contract. He was fully committed to his betrothal and he was going into this contract with the thoughts of a marriage at the end of it fully in his plans, if he'd done anything else then he would have been discounting Rabastan without giving him a proper chance and that wasn't fair to the youngest Lestrange, who was now legally his Grandfather's Heir as of last week and now had the full weight and pressure of carrying on the Lestrange line and Harry was his only viable prospect at the moment, which meant that if Harry broke off his betrothal to Rabastan, then it was likely that the Lestrange line would die out with the deaths of Rodolphus and Rabastan.

Rabastan needed to produce a child, preferably more than one, or rather as many as he possibly, physically could, which actually suited Harry quite well with his three child minimum request.

As Lucius had pointed out to him, most Purebloods as a rule did not have more than two children; in fact most of them didn't even want children in the first place but needed at least one of them to carry on their Pureblood lines. One such man was Lord Greengrass, who hadn't wanted any children at all, but his older brother had died suddenly, thrusting all of the pressure to carry on the Greengrass name onto his shoulders. So he had married quickly, before he was out of Hogwarts, and he'd hoped for only the one 'snivelling brat' but his Wife had had a daughter, Daphne. He had forced himself to try again and his Wife had again given him a daughter, Astoria. Two was about as much as his fraying wits could handle, so he had told his lone paternal Uncle that if he now had a son then the title of Lord Greengrass would pass to the boy, because he just could not deal with any more children.

Harry was different, he wanted as many children as possible and if he had to pass on the Lestrange, Potter and Black names to his children then he not only needed three children at a minimum, but he needed three boys. He grinned in the privacy of his bed suite, he was going to try for as many children as he could and as he was going to be the one to carry them, then he couldn't see how Rabastan could complain overly much, especially not if he promised to name more than one child of his as a Lestrange.

He laughed to himself as a mental image of Rabastan fussing over two young children and three toddlers while shushing a newborn in his arms popped into his mind. If he had his way, then Rabastan was going to be a very busy man after they'd gotten married.

* * *

><p>Albus Dumbledore was sat in a soft armchair with a cup of soothing tea as he carefully mulled over everything that had happened this summer. Everything had changed and all because of one boy. He sighed and wondered what on earth had gone wrong. Where had everything turned off of the path that he had meticulously set up over the years and carefully laid out one event, one situation, at a time?<p>

He'd planned for little steps off of the path, nothing ever went completely to plan after all, so he had given enough room to allow for such things, for example who would have ever believed that Sirius Black was capable of escaping from Azkaban prison? He certainly hadn't and it had come as a nasty shock when he had been informed that Sirius Black had escaped from the allegedly unbreachable, inescapable prison.

Yet he had made adjustments accordingly and the path, though it was now a little meandering, had carried on as he had planned. Black had actually ended up being rather useful, which had pleased him. He'd gotten the use of the Black townhouse for the Order of the Phoenix, which had already been heavily layered with wards built into the very foundations of the house, and he'd made Harry and Remus very happy, which suited his plans just fine as it created a closer tie between him and them.

Everything had started going wrong last year, in the summer before Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts. He had come to Grimmauld Place angry and unsettled. The slightest little nudge set off his anger and in those furious green eyes, he'd seen shadows of things that he would rathered have not seen. That was another step off of his path…he had immediately started researching and digging into small, hidden wells of lost information, was it even _possible_ for a living person to be a Horcrux?

He'd given Harry over to Severus, and under the guise of Occlumency lessons, he'd instructed Severus to see if he could find the Horcrux fragment that was no doubts buried somewhere in the boy's mind, likely under the cursed scar that had made a sort of opening into the boy's body for the soul fragment to enter. He'd told Severus to do whatever he needed to in order to find the Horcrux, to rip past any barrier, to delve as deeply as he could regardless of the pain and disorientation it would cause Harry, no matter how far into the boy's mind he had to go in order to find it. He needed to be sure, but what Severus had found had still surprised him, even as it also confirmed his suspicions, Harry was indeed a Horcrux. He was a piece in the puzzle that was keeping Voldemort alive, no matter how unwittingly or unknowingly. The boy now had to die.

It was a shame really, he'd liked Harry and he knew that the boy would have gone far in life after this war, if he had survived it to begin with that is, but now, now he had to repave his path…it had to take a different route to the one that he had originally planned and set up, and now, as unfortunate as it was, Harry had to die on that path for there to be true peace in the world.

The boy had taken such a huge step off of the path this summer though. He had never expected Harry to disobey his orders and leave Privet Drive, let alone go all the way to London and then on to Gringotts. It had troubled him greatly that Harry had known to claim his Lordships. It had been a struggle to keep Black quiet, insisting that it would be too disruptive to Harry's studies and that his O.W.L grades were low enough as it was, without adding in the responsibilities of the Potter Lordship.

He had only managed to silence Black by promising him that he could tell Harry on his seventeenth birthday, when he was legally a man in the wizarding world, and they'd then let him decide for himself if he wanted to claim his Lordship in his seventh year of Hogwarts or leave it in his care. Naturally he would have spun it in such a way that he'd have had a strong chance of getting Harry to leave the Lordship in his care, though he would have preferred that Harry had not known of the Lordship at all. But it had been such a relief when Black had died without telling the boy about the Lordship, he had breathed much easier.

Yet something had happened this summer, something had changed and Harry had chosen to disobey him and he had gone to Diagon Alley, someone there had told him about his rightful Lordship and he had gone to Gringotts and he had claimed it. He had claimed both of the Lordships that he had been entitled to seeing as he was the rightful Black Heir a well now that Sirius was dead and from one day to the next, he had lost both of the seats he'd had on the Wizengamot and his position as the Chief Warlock, a position of esteemed power and influence.

He'd tried to do some damage control by offering up a selection of wizards who he believed were 'suitable' for the position of Chief Warlock. Of those people, Albert Runcorn, the new Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation after the death of Bartemius Crouch senior almost two years ago now, had not been one of them. One move from the boy, and everything had changed and had come tumbling down around him and his carefully laid out path had taken a right angle from the direction he had wanted it to go in.

He had lost more than he cared to count when Harry had claimed both of his Lordships, he now had very little influence within the Ministry and with Lucius Malfoy giving more and more subtle advice to the Minister Fudge, whispering into his ear, he was getting less and less owls asking for his opinion or advice on things that he'd much rathered have had a say in.

His grip on the Ministry was weakening and he had to find a way to change that, to reaffirm his hold on the Ministry and get some power back from it. The Potter and the Black Lordships had been perfect, becoming the Chief Warlock was even more perfect, but now that was all gone and there was nothing that he could do to get it back…unless the boy died, yet he needed the boy to die at the right moment. It had to be Voldemort who delivered the killing curse to destroy the Horcrux; Harry would not survive a second direct curse.

The first time had been a fluke…he had told the boy that love had saved him, and really it had in a way, but not because his Mother had sacrificed herself for him, but because Voldemort had killed her at all. The Dark Lord's soul had splintered with the death of James Potter and the unstable, fragile fragment had broken free without permission, or the use of the dark magic which would have seen it sealed in an inanimate object, with the death of Lily Potter and it had latched onto the nearest living thing that wasn't its original host…Harry. So that when Voldemort had then turned his wand on the year old boy, the Horcrux had lashed back at its former home and though Harry had vanquished the Dark Lord that night with the help of the magical backlash that the new soul fragment had given him, he had also kept him anchored to life, no matter how flimsily, by harbouring that piece of soul within his own body.

A second curse from its host now would destroy the Horcrux and would more than likely kill Harry in the process too. It had only been strong enough to rebound the killing curse the first time because of the overwhelming magic it had taken for the soul fragment to fuse to the baby Harry after it had broken free of its host. It was a once in a millennia occurrence and the timing had fallen perfectly for Harry, as Voldemort had cast the killing curse just as the soul fragment was establishing itself in his body. It was unlikely to ever happen again.

From what he had read there was a slim chance of Harry's survival if he willingly offered himself, and the Horcrux, up as a sacrifice, but if he twisted that a little and he never told the boy of that little possibility, then the boy would die and he could take over the Lordships once again. It would be a struggle to win back the position of Chief Warlock, but it was all for the greater good in the end.

He needed to have some clout in the Ministry to ensure that it was being governed properly. It just wouldn't do to have the Pureblood Lords taking over and passing _unfavourable_ and unsavoury laws without his veto. He dreaded to think what those Lords were plotting and what laws they were passing in his absence and Albert Runcorn would not oppose those Lords or their proclamations as he had done when he was the Chief Warlock.

It would take him an age to correct and reverse all of the new laws they were going to be passing in his absence. He needed to find a way to get himself back onto the Wizengamot, or at the very least he needed someone on the Wizengamot that he could trust to relay all the laws being passed and to tell him who was voting for what. Such a thing was illegal, so he needed to pick carefully, but he hoped that that person could still be Harry. He hoped that he could still influence the boy and then he could get his votes heard by going through Harry, but he had to get back onto the Wizengamot by any means necessary. He needed to have the laws he wanted passed and those he didn't want passed heavily opposed. He dreaded to think what would happen to the wizarding world that he had patiently moulded over the last eighty years otherwise.

It would take longer than he was prepared to wait, but this couldn't be rushed. If this was not planned thoroughly, then things could go very wrong and if someone other than Voldemort hit Harry with the killing curse, then everything would be ruined and the Horcrux would survive to latch onto another host and Voldemort would live on. It had to be Voldemort; otherwise he would have dispatched the boy himself and then gone after Voldemort himself.

No, it had to be planned with precision. It had to be done properly and this had to go smoothly, otherwise years' worth of planning and preparation to get rid of Voldemort for good would go down the drain and without Harry to fulfil the prophecy, the world would fall to Voldemort and he couldn't allow that to happen.

Lucius Malfoy had thrown a huge spanner into the works by adopting Harry as his own son, he had tried to speak to Harry recently, but the boy hadn't spoken to him until Lucius had given his permission. Harry had changed so much in a short amount of time and he was now under Lucius' thumb, completely it seemed from his interaction with him, but he'd have to test the boy at school to see how far Lucius' influence on him ran.

Harry had ignored all of his letters and those of almost everyone else that had written to him. He'd sent a small letter to Ron Weasley and a longer, more detailed letter to Hermione Granger, but the only difference between the two was that the letter to Miss Granger contained a list of what books the boy was reading, books which he had rathered the boy had never known existed, let alone read. But the boy talked of how excited he was to be learning so much and he had informed the girl that he had picked up Ancient Runes and Arithmancy as electives for this year. That had come as a huge shock to him as well, even more so when Harry had actually scraped two A's in the subjects at the Ministry in just five weeks, subjects that he had never taken or shown even the slightest bit of interest in before. He suspected foul play on Lucius' part, but he had no proof to throw at him.

He could only hope now that he could do some damage limitation and get Harry back to his way of thinking. Perhaps if he told the boy that it had been Sirius who hadn't wanted him to know of his Lordships, after all, he was dead now and couldn't contradict him and Harry would be appeased that it had been Sirius' intervention that had prevented him from knowing of his birth right. That might work….yet he could only hold on to mere hope that it would work at this point, after all Harry had been living with Lucius Malfoy for six weeks now and there was no telling what the man had done to the boy or what thoughts he had supplanted into Harry's impressionable, young mind.

He needed to work on splitting Harry away from the Malfoys, which was proving difficult, but Harry would be at Hogwarts now for the year, so he had some time to work on that, until then though, he had one more week to wait until Harry came back to Hogwarts and then he could assess the damage that had been done to poor Harry and he could plan and act accordingly.

* * *

><p>Harry was sat on the scarlet steam train, the Hogwarts Express, in a compartment that was empty except for him and Draco. He was currently quilling an expressive letter to Rabastan. It was already nearing two foot in length and it was only growing longer. He was writing it in several different coloured inks, a new colour for each new paragraph, because he believed that it would help Rabastan keep track of lengthy letters and allow him to easily know what he had already read and what he hadn't.<p>

"I have a pot of silver ink if you need to use it." Draco offered, even as his pointy nose was still buried in his book. He was looking for questions to test Harry with on Arithmancy.

"That would be helpful, thank you, brother." Harry said with a grin, knowing that Draco hated being reminded that he and Harry were now legal brothers from Harry himself, as ridiculous as that seemed.

"Do not call me that or I'll curse you."

"You can try. I will remind you that I am the top of our year group in Defence Against the Dark Arts and that I scored the highest 'Outstanding' grade that the examiners have given out for over seventy years." Harry said with a smirk.

Lucius had written to the board of examiners and he had demanded a breakdown of all of Harry's grades and his examination marks. He was incredibly pleased and proud of his achievement in Defence Against the Dark Arts…it was just everything else that he wasn't too thrilled about.

"Just hurry up and finish your love letter. You've been writing it for a week and a half; your betrothed is going to be going out of his mind with worry."

"Our contract states that we have to send so many letters and they have to be a certain collective length. I've been so busy over the last three weeks that my letters have been a little short and clipped, so I wanted to take the time to pour out everything into this one letter, because I'm sure that once we get to school I'll be swallowed back up by school work and learning. Not to mention homework and my duties to the Wizengamot and I need to review some more of the neglected Black family accounts. Eighteen huge, thick folders and I have to personally read them through and change everything I don't like, which is a lot."

"I noticed that you removed the disownment on Sirius, Alphard and Andromeda." Draco stated in false nonchalance, trying to hide his interest and curiosity.

"You've been itching to question that for the last week, haven't you?" Harry chuckled. "Yes, I welcomed them back into the Black fold. I don't think Sirius' behaviour was warranted a disownment, so I reversed that decision and I really don't think giving money to your nephew is grounds to be disowned, so I reversed that decision as well and I don't think marrying a Muggle is grounds for disownment either. Andromeda is a woman, she could never have had the title of Lord Black and with only the one daughter, she is unlikely to ever produce a son. Besides, I am Lord Black now and I fully expect to produce several sons and daughters to carry on all three lines that I'm connected to, so I don't see her or her choice of Husband as a threat to the Black family."

"Every man fully expects to have a son, sometimes it doesn't work out that way."

Harry chuckled. "Yes, I understand that. But I'm prepared to keep trying and having children until I am completely incapable of having any more children. With that amount of children planned, at least one of them has to be a boy."

"But you need at least three."

"Ah, no. You see I thought that too, but then I started thinking harder about it. I am Lord Potter-Black. I am the Heir to two houses. If I do by some misfortune only have the one son and a gaggle of girls, then my lone son will be named as the Heir to all three houses, the Potter, the Black and the Lestrange lines and then Rabastan and I will set him up with a suitable match and then he can name his sons as separate Heirs…of course this is all just a hypothetical situation in the event that I only produce the one son in my lifetime."

Draco shook his head. "I never would have believed that there was a mind capable of thinking such analytical things inside your head."

Harry laughed. "I've always been good at problem solving. I have a surprisingly quick mind, but only if it's actually applied to the task, before it was only really fully engaged when my life or others' lives were in danger. But if I don't push myself and have the drive and desire to do something, then it goes in one ear and out the other."

"Then I suggest you apply yourself one hundred percent this year, otherwise Father will be most displeased and I'll smirk at you internally as you're unable to sit on your chair comfortably."

Harry laughed harder. "I hate that he has the house elves take the pads from the chairs as an added punishment. Those chairs are hard and horrible without a cushion at the best of times, it's only worse when you have a sore bum."

They didn't mention any more about their home life as the compartment door was pulled open only a few moments later and Draco's Slytherin friends came in and arranged themselves around the compartment as if nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened and that Harry had always been there amongst them. Harry deduced that their parents had told them that he was a Pureblooded Lord of two old, powerful houses and that they weren't to do anything to him to jeopardise their delicate politics with him. That or they were too composed and refined to say anything after they'd heard of him being adopted into the Malfoy family.

Many of the Lords were cosying up to him now, likely aware of his strengthening position with the firm betrothal contract between him and the, now Heir, of the Lestrange line. Not that that was public knowledge of course, but it was travelling through certain Pureblood circles.

He'd learnt that as Rabastan was a wanted criminal, he couldn't actually take up the mantel of Lord Lestrange when his Grandfather died, so if Xerxes died then Harry would take Rabastan's seat on the Wizengamot as well, as his Husband's bonded spouse. But what went on in the Wizengamot halls, stayed there, so only the members inside the Wizengamot would know of him being Lord Lestrange and as they were unable to tell anyone outside of the Wizengamot without facing life in Azkaban, he would be safe from any backlash concerning his choice of Husband.

Though Harry got the feeling that before Xerxes even came close to dying of old age, Rabastan would be able to walk down the streets and live his life normally without fear of being attacked by members of the general public or the Ministry.

He _had_ been living with the Malfoy family after all and sometimes the dinner topics were a little more than just Lucius' day in work or Narcissa's gossip from afternoon tea with the other Pureblooded Ladies. He didn't know what to think about that, but he always held his tongue. He got the feeling that he was being tested and that he was being 'scoped out' so to say. But he'd learnt now that before he could do or say anything, then he needed all of the information and all of the facts, his time at the Wizengamot had taught him that, so he waited, silently, he was always listening and retaining the information that was said and though he knew that the Malfoys were biased, so too had been those around him before. He needed to take each side with a pinch of salt.

He did not like Voldemort's methods, definitely not, they were far too violent, far too discriminate and downright evil…but what Dumbledore had done to him, ruining his childhood as he had, planning to steal everything from him, including his bank vaults, his Lordships, his Pureblood heritage, all for himself. It hit closer to home, it made him feel sick. All he wanted was to live, he wanted his own life and he was going to carve one for himself, no matter what it took him to do so and he didn't care how many bridges he needed to burn for it to happen or how many new bridges he needed to build, he would have his own life, no matter who he needed to ally himself with in order to achieve it.

He swallowed hard and took in a deep breath, keeping his composure. He'd known that this was a high possibility, siding with Voldemort of all people, but in his mind, what Dumbledore had done to him was worse than anything else he'd ever known…it wasn't just keeping his Lordships from him, it was keeping a part of his Father from him and he couldn't forgive that, he couldn't ever forgive someone keeping a part of his parents from him and especially not something that his Father had not only wanted him to have, but had actively taken steps to make it possible for him to have.

Yet it wasn't just the Lordships either, it was the theft of his birth right, something which he had found out was a very serious offence, it was cases like his that had seen the need for Lucius Malfoy to found the WPM, the Wizardry Protection Movement, in the first place. To help wizards like him who were completely clueless and being lead around in the dark over their birth rights. Everyone had assumed that he'd known about his Lordships, about his heritage and his status and that he had knowingly and happily left them in the hands of Dumbledore, which is why no one had ever told him or questioned him over it…the man's manipulations truly knew no bounds and he couldn't forgive that either.

But it didn't even stop there. Lucius had told him that as his magical guardian, Dumbledore had been responsible for everything in his life, from his upbringing, to his education, to the very subjects that he took in school.

He'd been told that he'd been put with Muggles for the simple reason that if he'd been left with a witch or wizard, then they would have automatically become his magical guardian as well as his custodian guardian. Harry felt sick when he thought of Sirius…who had been innocent all along and should have been his guardian throughout his life. Instead he'd had Dumbledore, who hadn't told him anything, who had shut him out and kept him ignorant and in the dark while leaving him to rot with the Dursleys while he enjoyed all the benefits of his birth right.

Well not any more. Lucius was his adoptive Father and his magical guardian now, Lucius had changed him and was moulding him for the better. He'd pushed him so hard that Harry had feared that he'd fall and never get back up again, but so precise and guiding was Lucius' instructions, Harry was always caught by firm hands and set back on his feet before he could hit the floor. He had learnt so much that if he took a moment to think about it all, his head spun around until he was dizzy.

But Lucius had taken up his role as his guardian with a fierceness that Harry wouldn't ever have expected. He'd always thought that Draco was spoiled and allowed to get away with murder, but it just wasn't true. Though Draco had mostly everything he wanted, he got more than most of the kids at Hogwarts did, he got a sweet parcel from Narcissa every month, he sent owls to both of his parents every other day, he had everything and he was spoilt to an extent, but Lucius was a firm and strict Father and Harry had seen, and felt, for himself that he was not above punishing either of them if they needed it. Draco was spoilt, but he wasn't ruined like Dudley had been.

This sort of action and consequence routine was completely alien to Harry, who with the Dursleys had been smacked about and punished on a whim, starved and locked away in a cupboard and then in his tiny bedroom that he couldn't get out of…imprisoned in what was supposed to be his own home.

He admitted, at least to himself, that he'd pushed the Malfoys a little at the beginning, testing to see if there was anything that he could get away with, if the punishment would always be the same of he behaved in different ways. He hadn't been able to help himself as he'd thrown bitch fits and had emotional outbursts and displayed pure, shameful behaviour, but always the punishment fit the crime and he'd never been beaten or even hit with anything that wasn't a few slaps of the hand or a simple charm that was annoying more than it was painful. He'd never been denied food or told he wasn't allowed to have breakfast or dinner, he'd never been locked up or even told to stay in his room. He wasn't punished any harder than Draco himself was, they were treated like equals and that was something that Harry had never known before and he found himself craving it. It was so strange that he even worried that something might be wrong with himself.

Yet it was this mind-set that made him want to prove himself even more, he wanted to please Lucius and Narcissa, he wanted to impress them and make them proud of him, as he'd done the same at the Dursleys when he was younger, before he'd come to the realisation that nothing he would ever do would be good enough for them. They were truly despicable people, he realised that when he'd seen pride in Lucius' eyes for the very first time, when he'd seen for himself those thin lips curl slightly into a smile. If Lucius Malfoy of all people could feel pride at the things he did and what he'd achieved, then why couldn't his own blood relatives? The people that Dumbledore had happily left him with time and time again, despite Harry begging him not to go back and pleading with him, telling him what they were like, but he was always forced back…always.

"It seems that you had a more interesting summer than most of us, Draco."

Harry looked up to see Pansy sat next to Draco, one hand on his inner thigh, her fingers brushing incredibly close to his groin, while she looked coyly up at the blond through her lashes.

"It was eventful." Draco replied simply, but Harry frowned slightly when he heard how throaty Draco's voice had gone. Was he ill?

Blaise Zabini laughed happily and Draco scowled at him.

"You still have absolutely no self-control, do you? I heard that the three of you were punished severely over the summer, how can you just start all over again this year?"

Harry blinked and he looked from Draco, to Pansy and a flushed Daphne, to Pansy's hand on Draco's leg and he connected the dots.

"Father would be most displeased." Harry said calmly, even as he carried on writing his letter to Rabastan, his heart beating a mile a minute at what he was actually seeing with his own eyes…they were doing _that_ right there in front of him!

"You would tell him too, wouldn't you?" Draco growled.

Harry sent him a wide grin. "If only to see you be punished, yes. I'd tell him in a heartbeat because you'd do the same to me if the situation was reversed."

Draco sighed and pushed Pansy's hand off of his thigh and shifted closer to the window, away from her. The pug faced girl stared at the distance between her and Draco and grit her teeth.

"I lost my betrothal match because of what we did together, we almost created a baby together, Draco. Why are you behaving like this? You promised me marriage when we were in bed together."

Harry couldn't control the urge to grimace at the thought of Draco lying, all sweaty and naked, in a bed with Pansy and promising her marriage. He felt queasy at the very thought and he almost gagged. Draco noticed and scowled at him furiously. Harry turned to look out of the window and regained his composure.

"You know that was only said in the heat of the moment and your pregnancy test came back negative and we were never so lax again." Draco replied calmly. "It was nothing to do with me that you lost your contract, it was your actions that lost you your betrothal, not mine. I still have my contract and I will honour it."

"I still have mine, too." Daphne said, she was smirking slightly, goading the unfortunate girl.

"Only because Nott is too much of an ingrate to get rid of you." Pansy sneered at the other girl.

"He's completely in love with her beauty." Blaise scoffed. "Even though both Draco and I have had Daphne in our beds and he knows that, he still wants you for some reason."

"His Father want's the Greengrass fortune, you mean." Draco replied scathingly.

Harry was appalled that these people were speaking like this to one another when they were supposed to be friends. He wouldn't dream of talking like this to Ron or Hermione. This picking and biting at one another was alien to him and he would never have dared treat his friends so appallingly and he wouldn't expect anyone to put up with him if he did act like this. He couldn't understand it, how did they remain friends when they spoke like this and acted as they did towards one another?

"You'll be in need of a betrothal contract too, won't you, Potter?" Zabini asked him and Harry turned to look at him quizzically. He had expected them to just ignore him, not actively talk to him.

"Who in their right mind would want him?" Pansy scoffed before Harry could answer.

"He might be your only option left. It's him, old Lucan Selwyn or Amycus Carrow. That is unless you want to go and live in some other country where you don't know the language or the culture with a foreign wizard that you can't understand and will never get on with." Daphne taunted the pug faced girl, getting her own back for the earlier, scathing comment.

Pansy went white and she swallowed. "I'll write to my Father and have him petition Lord Malfoy at his convenience then."

"Such a thing would be useless." Harry said calmly.

"It is up to Lord Malfoy to accept a suitable contract, not you." Pansy told him scathingly.

"I know that, but you see I already have a betrothal set up for me and it actually seems more like we have the possibility of marriage after I graduate, maybe even sooner than that if my Father is amicable. We have already talked about children and the ceremony."

"You never told me that you were actually considering a marriage." Draco said, completely affronted.

"It has been a busy week, I apologise for not telling you sooner, but it is a recent development. We found ourselves talking about the décor for our bonding ceremony at our last meeting and it took the both of us almost an hour to realise that we were actually planning our future ceremony."

"Father will be thrilled, you need to tell him."

Harry nodded. "I will, as soon as I finish this letter."

"Are you writing to your betrothed? That is a massive letter." Zabini told him. "Is it true that you're betrothed to Thorfinn Rowle? I had heard that your prerequisites were more towards the male gender and Rowle is known for liking both genders."

"Don't be ridiculous, Rowle is a member of the Pureblood directory, no one on that list is going to be interested in Potter." Pansy told Blaise.

"You're only saying that to make yourself feel better because the Rowle family turned you down." Daphne bitched.

"No, it isn't him." Harry replied distractedly before the girls could start spitting and biting at one another again as he quilled another paragraph, using Draco's silver ink. "I'm betrothed to Rabastan Lestrange."

Harry took huge pleasure in seeing their faces as he dropped that bomb shell on them, as the Lestranges were definitely a family in the Pureblood directory and they literally were the very last family anyone would have ever expected him to be linked to. It's what made it utterly perfect really, because no one would believe it until given irrefutable proof.

"He _wants_ to marry you?"

"Of course, he's very happy with our match. As is his brother and Grandfather…his Father is a poisonous, petty bastard, though."

"You shouldn't speak ill of your betrothed's family." Daphne warned him "I take it that you are a gene carrier?"

Harry nodded again. "I am and I don't speak ill of Rabastan's family, only his Father and we're both in agreement that he has no right to call himself a Lestrange. He abandoned his own sons after all."

"I can't believe that the Lestranges wanted _you_ of all people. They really must be desperate."

"I will warn you that if _you_ speak ill of my betrothed's family like that again, I will curse you."

"As will I." Draco countered. "If you speak ill of my brother, then you speak ill of me. If you insult him, then you insult the entire Malfoy family and I won't stand for it."

Pansy looked at a loss as she looked between Harry and Draco and then the letter that Harry was still writing, he'd moved on to purple ink. He'd stoppered the silver ink bottle and handed it back to Draco.

"Why are you writing in different inks? Such gaudy colours too." She sneered instead. It was like she needed something, anything, to sneer at in order to make herself feel bigger and better. It was pathetic to Harry.

"If I want to test out different coloured inks, why shouldn't I?" Harry asked.

"Rabastan Lestrange definitely will not like receiving a letter set out like _that_."

"You talk as if you've actually ever seen or spoken to him." Harry remarked. "He enjoys getting letters from me, no matter what form they're in or what colour ink I use. I could send him a singing dwarf to relay my message and he'd still enjoy it and he'd reply as well. Do not talk of my betrothed as if you know him or have even met him before."

Pansy suffered her humiliation for only several seconds before the compartment door was opened and Harry was looking at Ron and Hermione. He smiled at them widely, excited to see them again after so long.

"How was your summer?" He asked them. "You won't believe how much I've learnt this summer, it's been amazing! I have so much to tell you!"

"How can you say that after everything that's happened?" Ron burst out.

"Excuse me? I don't seem to understand what the problem is."

"Merlin, you even talk differently!"

"Of course I do, I've been educated in elocution to help me with my role as Lord Potter-Black in the Wizengamot. Don't fault me for that when I'm helping to make a difference to the world we live in."

"Professor Dumbledore was making a difference!" Hermione told him angrily.

"He stole my birth right from me. He was using seats on the Wizengamot that were rightfully mine and I had no idea about it. He stole my rights from me and he's lucky that he isn't facing trial and Azkaban prison because of it."

"He said…he said…"

"I bet that there is a lot that he's said and told you about everything that's happened, but until you hear both sides, until you hear _my_ side of things, then you have no hope of making an informed decision. If you only take one side as the truth without listening to the other, then you're only being purposefully ignorant."

"Seven weeks you've spent with the Malfoys and look at you!" Ron spat.

Harry looked down at his new, pitch black robes trimmed with silver that had matching sterling silver fastenings that he'd had tailored for him at Twilfitt and Tattings. The crest was still the red and gold Gryffindor lion, as was the tie done perfectly at his throat, but Harry thought that he looked rather good.

"He looks perfectly fine to me." Draco complimented. "Unlike you, Weasley. How many of your brothers wore that robe before you?"

Ron's ears went red and Harry sighed. This was not going at all how he'd hoped. He'd hoped that his friends would understand, that they'd be righteously angry on his behalf when he told them what Dumbledore had done to him…he'd forgotten that they'd been following his orders too. That Dumbledore had told them not to send owls to him and they hadn't, then suddenly, as soon as he was in Malfoy manor, he was getting at least a letter every day from them both, most likely on Dumbledore's orders too. That thought upset him, he loved them, they were his friends, his first two human friends in his life and he didn't want to let them go. It was hurting him. The way that they were looking at him was hurting him.

"What has this got to do with you, ferret?"

"Do not insult my brother in such a way." Harry demanded angrily. "I still want to be friends with you both, but I will not let you speak to Draco in that way."

"Why would anyone want to be your friend now?!" Ron exploded. "You've made your choice, you've picked them over us!"

"I haven't chosen anyone over anybody else! It is you who is breaking off this friendship. I still want to remain friends, I just won't stand idly by and allow you to offer insult to my brother and to my family!"

"They're not your family, Harry. You're the son of James and Lily Potter, not the Malfoys." Hermione told him quietly.

Harry sighed raggedly in frustration. He didn't understand why everyone kept saying that to him. "Yes, I am. I will always be their son, as Sirius will always be my Godfather, but they're all dead, Hermione. They're all gone and I have no one left to be my family. Yet why does that mean that I can't have another family? A family willing to adopt me and take me in and care for me? Why can't I have that too just because my parents happen to be dead? Why does them being dead mean that I can't have a loving family? They'd want me to be happy and I am."

"You had your Aunt and Uncle…."

"You know what those people did to me!" Harry exploded suddenly, jumping to his feet and staring up at them furiously. "You saw the marks on my body; you knew what they did to me during the summers. How dare you stand there and say that I had them to love me and care for me when you knew that they never did!"

"It was only for a few weeks, then you came to mine for the summer." Ron tried to tell him.

"You say that as if it's alright. Oh, you only have to put up with being beaten and starved for a few weeks, you can handle that, it's alright. It's not!" Harry shouted. "It's not alright, it has never been alright! How dare you try to diminish what they did to me, how dare you make light of it and say that it was only for a few weeks when you knew damn well that Dumbledore was going to keep me there all summer! It doesn't matter if it was for only one day, I never wanted to go back there and I'd see those people dead for what they did to me!"

Harry was panting like a wounded rhino when he finished and his ears were ringing from his own shouts. He could feel his hammering heart in his throat and the blood rushing through his veins as he glared at the two people that he had trusted to always stand by his side. The two people who had just told him that he wasn't worthy of a loving home and had told him that they didn't want to be friends with him anymore just because he'd been adopted into a family that didn't treat him like a slave and a punching bag.

"If you don't leave now, I'll curse you until your own Mothers can't recognise your faces." Draco promised coldly.

"Harry?"

"Go. Now." He said in splintered fragments as he tried to regain his composure and bottle up all that cold, icy anger that had flared so quickly and so easily within him with the merest provocation.

"You three, leave too." Draco said to Daphne, Pansy and Blaise a few moments later, after the compartment door had been slammed shut.

They didn't argue, they just got up and left, closing the door behind them again. Harry didn't see if they went the same way as Ron and Hermione or not, he didn't care right at that moment.

"Beaten and starved?" Draco questioned him immediately once the compartment door was closed again and they were alone. "Something that you forgot to mention to us, Potter?"

Harry averted his gaze, looking out of the window as he chewed on his lip. Draco moved to sit next to him and he physically turned Harry to face him.

"Do not make me tell Father that you're keeping secrets, because he will get it out of you and it'll be better for you if you just tell me now, so that I can inform Father and he can act accordingly rather than having him get the information from you himself. Now tell me, what did those filthy Muggles do to you?"

Harry shook his head. "I can't believe I blurted it out like that, in front of so many people too, I was just so angry, so very angry and I couldn't control it."

"What did they do?" Draco demanded, not letting Harry change the subject or avoid it.

Harry sighed. "I was left on their doorstep the night my parents were killed."

"You were left on a doorstep?!" Draco said aghast. "A year old baby on a doorstep where anyone could snatch you! Merlin, a passing foxcould have _mauled_ you to death!"

Harry nodded. "Allegedly my Aunt found me when she opened the front door to put out empty milk bottles."

"You were left there _all_ _night_?!"

"As far as I know. But from then on…my life was a sort of painful existence. It's all that I can remember, Draco. Everyone assumes that because I'm the Boy-Who-Lived, something I didn't even know about until I was eleven, when I found out about magic for the first time I might add, that I was treated like some sort of prince, but I wasn't. They hated me, because they hated magic. My Aunt was jealous that my Mother had magic and she didn't, my Uncle hated anything that was out of the ordinary, he even hated dreams where things were acting out of the ordinary and as I had magic and I did have accidents over the years…he hated me too."

"So he beat and starved you?"

Harry bit his lip and nodded. "He said that he could stamp the magic out of me and then when that failed, he tried to keep me from going to Hogwarts, saying that he wouldn't pay for me to go, but I found out then that I had my own trust vault and that my full tuition had been paid for upon my birth. But coming to Hogwarts, it made everything worse. He got more deranged, more violent and instead of just missed meals here or there, he started leaving me for days without anything to eat. He even put bars over my window and locked me in a room that's smaller than the house elf rooms at the manor and I'd be in there for days at a time without being let out and then I'd only be allowed out for half an hour or so and then I'd be locked back up again."

Draco looked grey when Harry finally got the courage to look at him and he seemed completely unnerved.

"You suffered through that all this time and you said nothing?"

"As I shouted at Ron and Hermione, I begged Dumbledore not to make me go back…I actually begged him Draco. I told him that I'd go anywhere else, but he always refused and sent me back to them. I told him about it and he did nothing, so I never told anyone again. Ron and Hermione knew, Ron and his brothers actually ripped the bars off of my window to get me out in my second year and they told their Mother that I was being starved and she didn't do anything either. They saw the bruises and scars on my body, but nothing was ever said, nothing was done, so I stopped mentioning it. I sort of…I realised that nothing was ever going to be done and that I'd have to put up with it, it was like I was brainwashed into accepting their treatment of me instead of telling anyone and everyone or even doing something about it myself. I felt like I had to accept it, like it was right for them to treat me like that and I don't know where that mentality started or where it came from, but it's only since being with your family that I've realised how a real family should be like. Mrs Weasley has always said that she saw me as a son, but she never treated me like one, she treated me like a brainless kid who was incapable of making decisions and…it's only been your family that has shown me what I'm missing, it's been you and your parents that have shown me what true families are like and I don't think I can go back to how it was before, Draco. Now that I've had a taste of it, I can't go back."

"You won't have to. You're a Malfoy now, maybe not in name, but you're family and you're betrothed and you said that it's looking more and more like marriage. You have a family now and you're making your own family. You won't have to go back to that, you won't have to go back to them."

Harry's throat felt tight and he had to swallow hard twice before he could even speak.

"I just can't believe how different everything is. I've come to depend on you and your parents so much, having that striped from me now is going to hurt me deeply and…everything is different now. I can see things more clearly, I'm coming to realise my self-worth and I don't want that taken from me. I hate those people for what they did to me."

"I'm going to owl Father and tell him, he'll know what to do. Until then, I suggest that you finish that letter to Rabastan, we're almost at the station."

Harry nodded and went back to the letter, changing from purple ink to navy blue and started telling Rabastan that he needed to see him in person to explain a few things to him. He wondered then if he should tell Rabastan about the Dursleys, but he decided against it, it wasn't something that he wanted to put in a letter. Instead he told his betrothed that there was something important that he really needed to tell him, something that he needed to know, and he'd explain everything to him the next time that they met up face to face and he left it at that. He signed his name at the bottom of the letter before he took out a new piece of parchment and wrote to Lucius. He couldn't leave something like this up to Draco to explain, he needed to tell his adoptive Father his own version of events as well as Draco's version and as Draco sent his letter off, Harry hurriedly tried to catch up, knowing that Draco's Eagle owl, Saracen, was faster than his Hedwig. He squashed as much as he could into the letter before he took Hedwig from her cage and he handed the hastily scribbled letter to her and gave her feathery head a soft kiss before he sent her off after Saracen. He'd have to wait a little longer to send his letter to Rabastan, he hoped that his betrothed didn't mind too much.

All of this being dragged up, his beatings and his starvation, it made him wonder if that was why he had made such a strong connection to Rabastan in the first place, a person who was a ruin of a man after fifteen years in Azkaban. A man who was so damaged and skeletal that he didn't look healthy enough to be alive, and that was after several months of intensive care and consumption of potent potions.

He could relate to Rabastan because he had been beaten and starved for fifteen years as well…he swallowed hard and he vowed to talk about this with his new family and his betrothed and his family, especially as he had been forced to watch Draco send off his Eagle owl with the letter that would inform Lucius Malfoy that his newest, adopted son had been abused and starved as a child. Hedwig wouldn't be able to out fly Saracen, he was too fast and much bigger and stronger than his little snowy owl, he only hoped that his Father read his letter too before he did anything or tried to claim that he was hiding things from him on purpose and he hoped that Rabastan wouldn't mind his letter being a little late or that _he_ didn't think that he was hiding things from him either. This was all such a mess; he just hoped that it was at all salvageable after it was all said and done.

* * *

><p>AN: The response for this story has been amazing and seriously intense! I hope that I can continue to keep you all interested and entertained with this story as it progresses.

A massive thanks to **Muuwi** for being the **200****th**** reviewer** for this fic. I never thought I'd be saying that after just two chapters either, I'm incredibly happy with the response and feedback for this story. Keep it up, lovelies.

**The Huntress**: Lucius did both. He took custody of Harry and adopted him as his legal son. This does not mean that Harry has to change his name. He is still Harry James Potter and James Potter is still his Father on his birth certificate, but due to the adoption Lucius is his legal Father as well, but this does not change Harry biologically and it won't affect his name or birth certificate. He's still just a Potter.

**Stachelbeere**: According to J. K. Rowling, all Purebloods used to marry Muggles. But some when before the 1930's certain families were 'purer' than others and thus they became known as the sacred twenty-eight of the Pureblood directory. The Weasley family deplored their inclusion in the directory and happily pointed out that they had Muggle ancestors, thus they became known as blood traitors.

**Perfidious**: I'm hoping that it'll be about twenty-five-thirty chapters long, but I really couldn't estimate any closer than that.

I hope all of you have enjoyed this chapter. The fourth will be up soon enough and we have some more of Lucius and Xerxes, Rabastan pops back in and we have the first of the Voldemort scenes. I would like to take this moment to say that I've denounced the film version of him and gone back to the, slightly saner, version of him in the books. He was an incredibly intelligent man, completely deluded and maniacal, of course, but he is intelligent and I refuse to think of him as nothing more than an insane, corpse like beast with a powerful wand. There has to be something more to him than that, so to make this plot work, you have to accept that he's not an insane, rambling idiot with no nose. He is actually capable of rational thought in this fic, just to prepare you for the next chapter.

I'll be seeing you all soon,

StarLight Massacre. X


	4. Anger Issues

_Last Time_

_He could relate to Rabastan because he had been beaten and starved for fifteen years as well…he swallowed hard and he vowed to talk about this with his new family and his betrothed and his family, especially as he had been forced to watch Draco send off his Eagle owl with the letter that would inform Lucius Malfoy that his newest, adopted son had been abused and starved as a child. Hedwig wouldn't be able to out fly Saracen, he was too fast and much bigger and stronger than his little snowy owl, he only hoped that his Father read his letter too before he did anything or tried to claim that he was hiding things from him on purpose and he hoped that Rabastan wouldn't mind his letter being a little late or that he didn't think that he was hiding things from him either. This was all such a mess; he just hoped that it was at all salvageable after it was all said and done. _

Anger Issues

He had been expecting it, of course. But after the events that had happened on the train, Harry had hoped that Dumbledore would have waited until at least the next day before summoning him to his office to demand answers from him, but no. As soon as the welcoming feast had ended and all the students had been dismissed, Professor McGonagall had come right up to him and told him that the Headmaster wanted to see him immediately in his office and that he particularly enjoyed Bertie Botts Beans this term.

It was bad enough that his own house was shunning him, every single one of them, and he'd been forced to sit on his own after being split apart from Draco when they'd arrived at the Great Hall. Some of the other Gryffindors were even glaring at him and he didn't understand it, he was completely confused. So he'd been adopted, did that actually warrant this amount of vitriol? What business was it of their anyway? Why did they get a say in his life or where he lived when they were nothing to him? He didn't understand it.

He'd kept his head down and he'd eaten his dinner quietly, trying to ignore the glares and hissed comments going on around him. This wasn't how he'd imagined the beginning of his sixth year to go, not merely because he'd been adopted, against his knowledge and wishes at first, into the Malfoy family.

He sighed and made his way up to the seventh floor and instead of going with the other Gryffindors and heading to the Tower to get some much needed sleep, he went the opposite way and made his way to the Headmaster's office for a little chat that he could have really done without, even if he had been expecting it.

"Bertie Botts Beans." He said clinically to the stone gargoyle that guarded the office.

He climbed the winding stairs once the gargoyle had moved aside with a heavy heart and he knocked on the door sharply, wishing that he could just go to bed, but he cleared his mind and steeled himself for the talk that was about to be forced on him.

"Please enter."

Harry did so and he found himself swept into a tight, crushing hug as soon as he set foot through the door. He laughed when he smelt a familiar scent.

"Hello Remus. How have you been?"

"I've been going out of my mind with worry."

"I kept telling you that there was nothing to worry about." He said as he pulled back to look at the haggard looking werewolf.

"I know you did, but I didn't know if you were forced to write that under duress or not, I had to see you with my own eyes. The words you were writing, hell even the way you were writing them was so different from what I know of you. I couldn't trust the letters."

"Oh Remus, if I'd known that then I would have set up a meeting between us at the Leaky Cauldron to assure you that I was fine, all you had to do was ask. Lucius helped me with my calligraphy, so my writing is actually legible now. I don't smudge the ink all over the parchment with the side of my hand anymore either." Harry said with a grin.

"So you are alright?"

"Of course. I've never been better. You should see how much I'm learning, Remus! And I've found out that I really like Arithmancy and I have a natural affinity for Ancient Runes. It's brilliant and with what Lucius and Draco have been drilling into me, I'm really excited to start my classes this year."

"Well, you seem perfectly fine." Remus sounded amazed, but relieved and his stance sort of shrunk as he relaxed. "I'm so happy."

Harry nodded. "James and Lily will always be my Mum and Dad, always, and nothing will ever change that, but I never knew them. I have no memories of them, only of the night they died when a Dementor comes too close to me and that's not a memory that I like thinking about, it's too painful. Yet I never had anyone to replace them once they were gone, not until now and Lucius…he's the only Father that I've ever known. No one else has ever been a Father figure to me, and Narcissa is the same, she's a Mother to me now and I'm so happy. I've never had any sort of parental figure before, no one I could call family before. I was just getting used to Sirius and then he was snatched away from me. Lucius is stern, of course, but he cares about me, Remus. He's teaching me so much and he's sorting everything out for me, absolutely everything. He's getting me back on track to be a true grown man and I'm so grateful. He and Narcissa are teaching me things that I actually need to know, things that aren't taught at Hogwarts and no one else thought to teach me, things like how to magically pay bills, how to run a magical household, how to conduct myself in the Wizengamot, even how to care for a magical newborn. I had no idea how to do any of that, yet it's only since I was adopted by the Malfoys that I've been taught how to do these things."

"I know your relatives are Muggles, but weren't they showing you how to run a household?" Remus asked bemusedly.

Harry snorted harshly. "They taught me how to cook and clean and how to garden and paint a fence and the outside of a house with no ladder. Oh and how to ration food, but that's about it. They were unfit to care for a child, Remus. What did you think the newspaper article meant with 'unspecified neglect'? It's why Lucius adopted me when it came out at Gringotts." Harry lied.

He and Lucius had talked endlessly about him going back to Hogwarts and it was by mutual agreement that they decided not to mention Dumbledore's neglect as a magical guardian. Lucius wanted Dumbledore to believe that Harry was still 'on his side' so to say, just in case something happened to him while he was at the school and Lucius was so far away.

So instead of skirting the issue or changing the topic as he had discussed with Lucius, Harry was twisting the truth slightly and the 'unspecified neglect' that the papers had mentioned as the reason behind Lucius adopting him was now the abuse that the Dursleys had put him through seeing as all of that was going to come out too. He could easily make that the reason behind his adoption, despite the fact that Lucius didn't know about the abuse of the Dursleys yet and it had actually been Dumbledore's neglect as a magical guardian that had spurned Lucius into adopting him almost two months ago now.

"You should have come to speak to me before all of this, Harry."

Harry looked to Dumbledore sat behind his desk for the first time and he crushed the wave of cold, icy rage before he could give himself away.

"I had very little choice in the matter. I was taken to the Ministry via a guard without being told what was going on, just that my immediate presence was required at the Ministry and that I was to bring all of my belongings and then, when I arrived, I was immediately handed over to Lucius and I was told that he'd adopted me and that he was now my legal guardian. I admit that I was very unhappy in the beginning, I did pitch a fit, but I was unceremoniously told to shut up, that I couldn't do anything to change what had happened and to go home with my new custodian. Frankly I don't care anymore, the Malfoys are the best thing to ever happen to me."

"Do you really mean that?" Remus asked him.

Harry nodded. "I do. Everything that has happened in these last seven weeks…everything I've learnt, everything I've been given and taught, to how I've been treated…I don't ever want to lose that now."

"Have you signed anything for Mister Malfoy, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry scrunched up his face. "No, why would he have me sign anything?"

"Would you care for a lemon drop?" Dumbledore offered randomly.

"No, thank you. I've just eaten dinner."

"Are you sure he hasn't made you sign anything?"

Harry frowned. "I'm not sure I like the way that you're insinuating that I have poor memory, _headmaster_." Harry stressed. "I haven't signed anything, only the papers in Gringotts to allow me to claim both of my Lordships early and that was my doing, not my Father's."

"This really has to stop, my boy."

"What does?" Harry asked, just a slight bite of anger in his tone.

"You know that Lucius is not your Father, James Potter is."

"As I said just a moment ago to Remus, James and Lily will always be my parents. Always. They loved me, cared for me, did everything for me and they even died for me. I'm not forgetting what they did and I'm not replacing them, because to me there's nothing to replace. I don't remember anything about them, I didn't even know what they looked like until I looked into the Mirror of Erised in my first year and I never had a picture of them until Hagrid gave me that photo album in my first year. I was eleven before I even knew what they looked like…what else am I supposed to do? If someone offers me a loving, caring home where I can learn to be a strong, independent man, but still have all the love, care and support that I need, I'm going to take it with both hands, because I've never had it before and now that I have had it…I crave it. I crave all of it and I won't be able to let go, I don't want to let go of that."

"You disappoint me, Harry."

"Why? Because I choose to live in a loving home instead of the abusive hell that I was living in before? Why does that disappoint you? No, in fact, what the hell does it have to do with you in the first place?" Harry demanded. "As my Father said at our last meeting, you are the headmaster of my school, nothing more. So why am I even here? Is this meeting to do with my education? Why are my living arrangements so interesting to you? It shouldn't matter to the headmaster of a mere school where I'm living!"

"You know why." Dumbledore said quietly. "You know about the prophecy, I told you…"

"Fuck that stupid prophecy, it was made by an insane old woman who drinks far too much cooking sherry and suffocates herself with incense in a tiny room stuffed in the top of a tiny tower. I don't believe a damn word of it!" Harry shouted.

A hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed. "Watch your language, Harry." Was all Remus said and Harry breathed in deeply and composed himself.

His arse would be red raw for the next week if Lucius had been there to witness his severe loss of control and decorum, and to actually curse like an uncouth Muggle, he'd be standing in the corner with his sore bum for several hours before being forced to sit on a hard, wooden chair.

"My opinion still stands; I don't believe that foolish old woman. She's a drunk and she gets high on incense fumes. You can't believe a word that comes out of her mouth. She spent all of my third year predicting that I was going to die a horrible, grisly death, which only got worse when I was going through the Tri-wizard tournament. Do you have any idea how afraid she made me? Predicting my death in class when I had to go out and do those stupid tasks when I never wanted to do it in the first place! No, I don't believe her."

"You know her true predictions…."

"No! I know that you _told_ me that they were true predictions! But I've made my own decision…nothing that comes out of that woman's mouth is real."

"Voldemort needs to be stopped."

"Then why do I have to be the one to do it?!" Harry exploded. "I'm _sixteen_; does that mean anything at all to you? You can't tell a sixteen year old to save the world and to fight in a war that started before I was even _born_! I don't care if Voldemort killed my parents, it was their choice to fight in the war, not mine and people die in wars! I want nothing to do with it, I've made my own choice and my decision is that I won't fight just because my parents did. I don't have to be included in this war just because they were. I want a nice, peaceful life and that's what I'll get…I've seen and suffered too much death in my life already and I'm only sixteen."

"Voldemort will never leave you alone."

"I still don't care. If he believes that rubbish, that's his problem. I'm going to live my own life the way I want to, I have a family now and I'll make my own one day in the future too and I'm happy to do so. I want a nice, ordinary life. I want a partner, I want to get married and I want kids. I want a nice house; I may or may not want a full sized, professional Quidditch pitch for a back garden. I don't want any pets outside of Hedwig and I'm hoping to get an extended family too, with in-laws, the works. I don't want to fight, I never have, so I'm making a stand, I won't fight in this war. So you need to find someone else to be your gullible scapegoat because I refuse to do so anymore. This war is your problem now, not mine."

"There is no one else, you know…"

"I only know what you've told me." Harry said through clenched teeth. "There is always someone else! You can't possibly believe that me, a sixteen year old boy, is capable of murder! That I'm even remotely strong enough to take out that evil bastard. I'm not and I won't sacrifice my life to that beast just because you tell me to, _headmaster_."

Harry turned smartly on his heel and he left the office, hurrying down the spiral staircase and striding angrily down the corridor. He had to get away or he was going to say something that would alert Dumbledore that he knew that he had been his previous magical guardian…he could not allow that to happen.

He'd done as he'd meant to and he'd declared that he was no longer going to play a part in this war, he didn't need to blurt out that he knew Dumbledore was a cold, manipulative fucker as well.

He needed to send another letter to Lucius, immediately. He had to tell his Father about everything that had happened and had been spoken about in that office, including his loss of control and his furious cursing. He had to be completely honest, even if it meant a punishment awaited him when he went home for the Christmas holidays. Until then, he needed to keep his head down and he needed to study hard, Lucius would not accept substandard grades for any reason, not even if he spent a month in the hospital wing, as he'd been told by Lucius after Draco had mentioned that Harry spent at least several weeks in the hospital wing a year. He had to work hard, study harder and keep his head down until he was out of school, it would be difficult, but he was sure that he could do it. He just needed to try as hard as he possibly could.

* * *

><p>The large, cavernous room was lit by a huge, burning fire in the massive fireplace at the far end of the room and the long, narrow wooden table was filled with seventeen bickering people and Albus Dumbledore wearily stroked his beard with a wrinkled hand.<p>

He was concerned; Harry's passionate speech had left him nervous, an emotion that he didn't feel all that often. If the boy refused to fight, the wizarding world would fall to Voldemort…if the boy didn't die, he would never regain his power at the Ministry.

He'd called an emergency meeting of the Order of the Phoenix and he'd told them all about Harry's explosive declaration in his office. The people sat at the table were arguing and shouting at one another about how best to deal with the situation.

"You have to make the boy see sense, Albus!" Alastor Moody growled out over the rest. "This is a war, not a game. He can't just stop and pack it up like a set of cards! This has Malfoy written all over it."

"That was my thought also, Alastor. It is obvious that Lucius Malfoy is planning, not to kill Harry as we had originally feared, at least not yet, but his goal now seems to be to convince Harry that he doesn't need to fight in the war and thus he'll remove the threat to his Lord. Harry is the only one who can defeat Voldemort for good. With Harry refusing to fight, Voldemort is free and unopposed to take over the wizarding world. He already has the Wizengamot, Albert Runcorn, a secret Death Eater, was voted in as the new Chief Warlock and with Lucius Malfoy whispering into Fudge's ear, I'm afraid that the Ministry holds no friends for us at the moment."

"The boy refused to pass his seats back to you?" Elphias Doge asked in outrage.

"I'm sure that that is Lucius Malfoy's doing too. He is using Harry to garner more votes for his proposals, with Harry controlling the Potter and the Black seats; he has two very influential seats and two votes, not just the one. If he is copying Lucius Malfoy and agreeing with every word that he puts forward, then I fear what new laws and regulations are being passed."

"I asked my Uncle about the Wizengamot meetings, Dumbledore. He's refusing to tell me anything about them; he is disgusted that I, an Auror, would ask him such things when it is illegal to speak of anything to do with the meetings outside of other Wizengamot members." Kingsley Shacklebolt said in his slow, deep voice.

Albus sighed and steepled his hands together and rested his chin on his fingers.

"I'm afraid that everything seems to have gone wrong. We've lost the Ministry, we've lost Harry and as a result, we may lose this war."

"We will not give in!" Moody raged. "The Ministry needs to be cleaned out and the boy needs to be made to see sense!"

"And how would you do that?" Remus demanded furiously. "Force him to fight? He's a sixteen year old boy; he's not even a legal adult in this world! If he doesn't want to fight, then I don't see how we can make him. He's scared! He's had enough of having his life put in danger and after what he's been put through, what teenager wouldn't? He came into this world only five years ago and since then he has been attacked and hurt and in constant danger, he's afraid and in pain. He's had enough and I don't blame him. We need to find another way."

"There is no other way!" Emmeline Vance burst out. "If there was then we would have used it already. We need the boy."

"He doesn't want to fight anymore! You can't just force him to do it when he won't!"

"We're going to have to, Remus." Albus said quietly. "We need him to fight Voldemort; we need to get rid of him once and for all. Forcing Harry to fight is for the good of the wizarding world."

"Do not say that to me!" Remus shouted loudly. "Do not sit there and tell me that forcing Harry to fight is for the good of the wizarding world, because unlike everyone else here, I am more concerned about Harry than I am about anything else."

"Do you not want the Dark Lord stopped then?"

"Of course I do! As Harry himself does, he said as much in the headmaster's office! I just don't want it to be at the expense of Harry's health or happiness. He doesn't want to fight, he's never been a violent boy anyway and forcing him to fight and to kill is going to destroy him. I won't let you do that to him. If you can't convince him to fight willingly, then you're going to have to find a different way. Harry has been through too much as it is, he's tired of it."

"But what else can we do?" Bill Weasley asked. "We can't allow Voldemort to win."

"How would you feel about being Lord Weasley?" Dumbledore asked. "Being the Order's eyes and ears on the Wizengamot."

"I can't be though; our family gave up the Lordship decades ago."

"If you disown Bilius Weasley, then your feud with the Malfoys will be resolved and if you then announce that you, and you alone, agree with the Pureblood ethics and traditions and denounce all blood traitors, then you'll be able to claim the Lordship for yourself. With the loss of the Black and the Potter seats and with the Lord Shacklebolt refusing to reveal the topics of the meetings, it is now imperative that we know what the members of the Wizengamot are voting on."

"We have refused for decades to disown one of our ancestors for something so ridiculous." Arthur said softly. "How can we disown someone from our family just because they loved a Muggle, because they loved children and wanted more of them?"

"The circumstances have changed drastically. We need to know what the Purebloods are planning, what laws they're passing in order to counter them. The Wizengamot are mostly made up of Pureblood Lords and with a Chief Warlock who is now a suspected Death Eater, there is no telling what laws they are passing. We need to know and we need to expose them and their plans to the public. I imagine that they are trying to increase the regulations on Muggleborns, Lucius Malfoy proposed such a thing two years ago and as the Chief Warlock at the time, I shut that dangerous idea down immediately. I fear that without me there and Runcorn the Chief Warlock that things will be very different if the same proposal is brought before the Wizengamot again."

Arthur nodded. "I'll go to Gringotts tomorrow morning. The Wizengamot would never accept me as Lord Weasley, so I understand the need for it to be Bill, but it's going to take a long time for this to go through the bank and that's if the Ministry doesn't make things difficult."

"As long as it is eventually accepted, that is all we need. There is nothing we can do about the length of the process." Dumbledore sighed, wishing fervently that there was some way to speed it all up. It would likely be the New Year before he had any insight into the Wizengamot at all and that was at the earliest. "I'm still unsure about what we can do with Harry, but I'll think of something and I'll approach him again once it gets further into the school year. Minerva, can I trouble you to keep an extra close eye on him and who he's talking to, this dependency on the Malfoy family might stretch to young Draco as well."

"Of course, Albus." The elderly witch agreed immediately.

"Then I believe that this meeting is concluded. Good evening to all of you."

Albus swept out of the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, thankful that Harry hadn't closed it off to them and that he seemed to have not told Lucius Malfoy their whereabouts. Perhaps there was still hope after all and this was just a phase of a teenaged boy rebelling. He didn't have much time left before he was sure that Tom would strike out and he needed to tell Harry about the Horcruxes, perhaps that would incite the boy to fight.

Even so, everything had gone wrong this summer and Harry had been damaged more than he'd first thought if he was truly serious about not fighting in this war. He hadn't thought that seven weeks was long enough for Lucius Malfoy to do so much damage to all of his plans and his carefully constructed path, but he had been very wrong and now he was paying the price for it.

He should have tried harder to get Harry away from Lucius Malfoy sooner, but he'd trusted that Harry would protest more than he seemingly had. He had expected him to fight the Malfoys and to stay true to his own parents, but he hadn't. Harry had just accepted it all easily and he had integrated himself with the Malfoy family so completely that he was even defending them and was now declaring that they were his own family.

A mere seven weeks, not even two months and everything had gone so completely wrong. He had to act fast now and he had to get Harry away from the Malfoys if he had any sort of hope of righting the wrongs that had been done in the last month. His plans had been ruined so completely by Lucius Malfoy that he now had to get rid of the man, and quickly.

This couldn't continue, he had to get Harry to fight and he had to have the boy take a killing curse from Voldemort. It was the only way to right the wrongs that had been done. It was the only way to shift everything back to how it should be. One way or another, he would make Harry fight and he would put everything back to how it should have been. It was the only way.

* * *

><p>Harry was drowning under a sea of homework and essays. It did not help that he was also taking two brand new subjects either as he had to get used to the Professors and their teaching style, which was naturally different to Draco and Lucius', and he was behind his other classmates in said new subjects too; he was struggling a little with the work load and all of the assignments he was given not only in Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, but in his other lessons too as the subject level became harder in preparation for the NEWTs. The only subject he wasn't having any problems with was Defence Against the Dark Arts, but then he'd always had an easy time of that, even if nonverbal spells were incredibly difficult and a new subject matter for him.<p>

He had taken to haunting the library as much as Hermione had in their previous school years, though she never seemed to be in there when he was, and he was spending a _lot_ of time in the library lately, so he knew that she wasn't there nearly as much as she used to be. He hardly cared though, he didn't have the time to figure out her sudden aversion to the library, though it was likely because he was suddenly spending so much time inside it that she was avoiding coming in here. He hated her for that too, he thought as he once again left his stuff on the table that he was currently occupying and went to find yet another reference text book on the dusty shelves that were far too high in his opinion.

"You really are embarrassing." Said a voice several minutes later, disturbing Harry from his intense perusal of books, trying to find one that would actually help him.

Harry grinned and turned from the shelf to see Draco leaning on the table he had vacated and reading through his homework seriously, frowning at whatever he was reading.

"Is that any way to speak to me? I'm your younger brother." Harry teased.

Draco scoffed at that and then he grimaced at something he had just read as he took the quill that Harry had left on the table, dipped it into the black ink and crossed out something on his parchment.

"This is wrong; I suggest that you read your books more closely."

"I have been, honestly! I'm just so far behind everyone else. Can you help me, please?"

"Of course, all you had to do was ask. Now sit down and pay attention as I generously impart my wisdom onto you."

Harry snorted as he walked back to his table and sat down next to Draco, who started telling him where he'd gone wrong, how and what he needed to do to work out the right answer. With this one on one, more concentrated teaching, Harry understood more because he could question Draco as much as he needed to and ask him to go over something if he needed to hear it again and he could have him check over his work for him to make sure that he was handing in the best quality work that he possibly could.

It took hours for him to finish his homework to Draco's level of expectation, and with the subjects that he understood more in and didn't need any help with as the only assignments that he had left to do, Draco got his own homework out and finished his own assignments off.

Draco even asked for his help on Defence Against the Dark Arts, which made Harry feel happier that he'd needed help with Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. He had thoroughly enjoyed teaching the DA after all, maybe he should have a harder think about his career choices and think seriously about what he wanted to do once he graduated, perhaps being a teacher would suit him better than becoming an Auror.

"Draco, what career do you want?" Harry asked with a frown.

"Hmm?" Draco hummed as he meticulously finished off his sentence. "I was thinking of starting a career in Potions. I want to be a Potions Master, so I'll have to Apprentice to a Master for several years first before I can get a proper career and become a potioneer."

Harry smiled. "That seems perfect for you; you've always done well with Potions."

"I've had to work at it, but I'm proud of where I am. What do you want to do?"

Harry sighed. "I wanted to be an Auror, but I'm fed up of all of it. I don't want to fight anymore or spend my life catching people and throwing them in prison, putting my life in danger day after day. I was thinking that maybe I could be a teacher. Maybe Defence Against the Dark Arts or Care of Magical Creatures."

"You can't be any worse than Hagrid; you know that absolutely no one is in his classes this year?"

Harry grimaced. "I know, Hagrid isn't speaking to me because of that."

"Good riddance." Draco huffed. "Now stop procrastinating and help me with this question."

Harry went back to helping Draco and everything was quiet and perfectly fine at their lamp lit table in one of the numerous study areas dotted around the library. It was peaceful, this sort of interaction with another person. He was doing all of his homework on time, he was doing it to a very high standard and not just doing a half arsed job and he was actually enjoying it because he was doing it with someone else. Blaise Zabini even found them and joined in on their little study group and he even got Harry to help him with his Defence homework in exchange for help with Astrology, a subject that he excelled in.

It was a far cry from trying to concentrate in the loud, noisy and busy Gryffindor common room with Hermione berating him every five minutes for not doing his homework sooner and Ron trying to beg off on playing chess or disturbing his thoughts to ask him what he was writing. It was no wonder he'd never truly applied himself to his studies before. He'd never really gotten the opportunity to try before.

"Cosying up with your new pals, hmm?" A scathing voice spat at him from behind as he bent over the table he was sat at, measuring the length of his parchment.

Harry let go of his homework and turned to look at Ginny, who was furious and puffing up in anger like her Mother and brother both did and he sighed.

"It's not like that, Ginny. As I told Ron and Hermione on the train, I had no choice in my adoption. Lucius filed for my custody at the Ministry after it emerged that I was being neglected at home and his application was accepted. I never even knew what was happening until after it had all been done and finalised. I'm finally being taught all the things that I need to know, my Father is helping me with my Lordships, my Mother is helping to teach me spells to help around the home and how to care for children. Draco is my brother now, why wouldn't I be doing my homework with him? I haven't changed all that much, I'm just putting more effort into my school work, why is that such a bad thing?"

"They're Malfoys, Harry! Death Eaters!"

"They aren't." Harry said calmly.

"I saw him at the Ministry! He fought against us! You said yourself that Lucius Malfoy was in the graveyard with you!"

"Hmm…I don't recall ever telling you such a thing." Harry said consideringly. "But I don't want to lose any of you over this. So I have a family now, I'm being looked after and cared for, why does everyone see that as such a bad thing when it really isn't?"

"We were your family!"

"I was never taught anything by your family, I was never told anything and I never felt cared for like I do now. I won't apologise for seizing this opportunity while I can."

"Why them?!" Ginny hissed.

"Because the Malfoy family were the only ones to offer." Harry said as calmly as he could while his anger was being roused and stoked so expertly. "No one else thought that I was worthy of a family, no one else even tried, so why not them when they saw how miserable and run down I actually was? I was not in a good place, Ginny. I'm finally being looked after like every human being deserves to be, I'm being taught and brought up properly and I don't care who it's with, I'm so very happy now, why can't you just be happy for me too?"

"I just can't, not with those creatures."

"I saved your miserable life." Harry reminded her, his anger flaring bright and icy cold, going from a warm simmering to blazing white hot in an instant. "You would be dead right now if it wasn't for what I did for you!"

"Ron came down…"

"Do you think an idiot like Ron would have ever figured out what had happened?!" Harry demanded of her. "Do you think that he would even have been able to get into that chamber when it has Parseltongue passwords? No! You would be dead without me, you would have died four years ago if I hadn't gone down in that damn Chamber to find you and you thank me for that by turning your back on me just for being adopted into a real family. You really need to look in a mirror and have a long, hard look at yourself and ask if the ungrateful bitch looking back at you is the person you really want to be!"

Ginny ran off and Harry took in a deep breath and he sat himself down again. He couldn't even remember standing up.

"I lost composure, didn't I?"

"Definitely." Blaise told him. "But due to the circumstances, I say you handled that really well. Her face when you reminded her that you'd saved her life was worth it."

Harry sighed. "I'm just so angry lately. It flares up and I lash out without thinking, I don't even have time to think! One minute I'm fine, then the next minute the anger surges and I'm up on my feet, shouting."

"I think you've thoroughly burnt your bridges with that load of riffraff though." Draco said with a haughty sniff. "Now come here and write this paragraph out again, you've gotten mixed up with your information yet again. I'm sure you don't pay attention."

Harry groaned and went back to his homework so that he could rewrite it yet again because Draco wasn't happy with it. He needed to stop getting so damn angry and he needed to get on top of this mountain of homework. He had been made the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain this year as well and he needed to start holding try outs for new Beaters, a new Chaser and a new Keeper very soon as the first game was on the Saturday of the second week of November.

He was going to be so busy this year, what with his duties to his Quidditch team, his mass of homework and his lessons. Not to mention his self-study to catch up with Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, keeping up his correspondence with Rabastan and his duties to the Wizengamot as Lord Potter-Black. His schedule was literally jam packed this year and he couldn't work out where he was going to find the time for all of it, but he would come up with something. He had to, even if it meant that he had to drop himself from the Quidditch team. He'd hate to do so, he loved Quidditch so very much, but his studies, his betrothal and his duties to the Wizengamot came first. They had to come first, even if it meant that he had to give up the sport that he absolutely loved. He had much more important things to deal with this year, after all.

* * *

><p>Lucius Malfoy knelt in front of the high backed chair and allowed his Lord to sift through his memories at his will. He allowed all of the memories of Harry to come to the forefront, as he'd been instructed to do, thinking about the boy's talents, his strengths, his intelligence and thirst for learning. How he was slowly opening the boy's eyes and turning him permanently away from Dumbledore, how he had immediately thought to adopt the boy once the opportunity arose so that he could, one way or another, take the boy out of the coming war, including his very real thoughts about how he would dispose of the boy if it was asked of him, at least before he'd gotten to know Harry as a person. He allowed his Lord to see the growing fondness he had for the boy, how he had come to care for Harry, who was so spirited, yet sat silently for hours devouring every book that he gave to him.<p>

He let his Lord see how he had immediately thought to put Harry with a loyal Death Eater once the boy had told him that he believed that he liked men more than he did women and how the Lestrange family had eventually came to his mind as a loyal, suitable family after he had probed a little at Xerxes to hear about the state of Rabastan.

He didn't hold anything back or try to hide anything from his Lord, who had been pleased with him for his forethought in adopting the boy quickly when the chance had arisen before Dumbledore had had the chance to block this avenue of opportunity. His Lord who had been pleased with Harry taking up his seats on the Wizengamot and being taught to his full potential, and especially with the contract that put Harry with Rabastan Lestrange, one of his most loyal followers.

"The boy seems to be progressing well."

Lucius brought up the letters that he'd gotten, first from Draco, and then several hours later the one from Harry and then the second letter from Harry that had arrived with a school owl the next morning. The former had been Harry's admission of abuse by his Muggle relatives, told to him in the letter by Draco. The second had been Harry's version of what had happened to him by the disgusting Muggles that he'd lived with and the third had been Harry's guilty confession that he had used several coarse, vulgar words in front of Dumbledore and that he had lost composure and his temper several times, but ultimately that he had screamed at his Headmaster that he was not going to fight in the war, that he refused to be a part of it and that all he wanted was a life of his own and a family.

"The boy is receptive of the idea of a family with Rabastan?" The Dark Lord questioned softly.

"I believe that it is correct to say that he adores the ground that Rabastan walks on, my Lord. They are very receptive to one another."

"Is that so, Xerxes? This pleases me." The Dark Lord hissed, his red eyes gleaming happily at all the new ventures he could delve into with the boy out of the way and kept busy with Rabastan. "Make sure that nothing happens to destroy this bond that they have, I will see them engaged and then married. If I can keep the boy busy and out of my way, then there will be nothing to stop us, my old friends. How are Rodolphus and Rabastan coming along on their recovery plans? I will have need of them in the coming months."

"Well, my Lord. I was initially worried about Rabastan, as I informed you he seemed to be merely going through the motions because he was told to do so, but now, he is throwing himself into his recovery plan and he's working harder and asking about what else he can do to help himself. I believe that this is fully because of Harry. He wants to get stronger and fitter for Harry. They had no mirrors in Azkaban, they could see what each other looked like, but not what they themselves looked like and I'm sure that coming out of the prison and seeing his own face for the first time horrified him and it made him lose all hope…until Lucius came to me with the proposal for a betrothal between him and Harry. Now, since he's met Harry and they've spent some time together, his lust for life has come back and his hope and his pride, his emotions are coming back and he's showing more interest in the things and the people around him. It's all thanks to Harry."

Voldemort nodded his bald head. "This pleases me too. Rabastan is one of my most loyal followers, seeing him and Rodolphus wasted to nothing angered me. The wizards who put them in that prison will pay. I am pleased that he is becoming the man that he once was. Keep him and the boy interacting, they must not be allowed to drift apart and we must break the boy away from Dumbledore once and for all. If he truly doesn't want to fight again, I will accept that, but I will not allow him to oppose me. I will kill him if he stands in my way."

"I will speak to Harry when I see him at the next possible opportunity, my Lord. I will see what he's thinking and if he actually meant what he said to that old fool." Lucius said respectfully.

"Dumbledore believes that what he said was true. He called an emergency Order meeting the very same night. He is concerned and afraid. He's talking about forcing the boy, by any means necessary, to fight in this war, but he fully believes that the boy doesn't want to and so does the werewolf, Remus Lupin, who was also in the Headmaster's office when Potter had his outburst."

"Do you believe that the boy will stand by and let my plans commence, Severus?" The Dark Lord asked with a sibilant hiss.

"If he is anything like his old self, then no. But by all accounts, from Lucius, Xerxes, Rabastan, Rodolphus and Dumbledore himself, the boy has changed significantly. If he truly has changed so much, then I don't see any reason why he would intervene with your plans, my Lord. The rift between him and Dumbledore is only growing."

"Look after him in the school." The Dark Lord ordered. "I will not have that old fool damaging what Lucius and Xerxes have started moulding. If I don't have to worry about the boy, then my plans can progress that much quicker and that much smoother. This pleases me. Leave me, all of you. I have plans that need to be made."

Lucius stood, bowed respectfully and he left the room immediately. He and his fellow Death Eaters remained silent until they made it outside of the property.

"Make sure that you do look after Harry in that school, Severus. He's my son now and I would see no harm come to him."

"He is to be my grandson-in-law as well; you won't like what my family will do to you if anything happens to that boy." Xerxes added. "Rabastan is very fond of him and since he's been betrothed to Harry, I've seen a vast improvement in his behaviour and his mental health has improved as well. That boy is good for my Rabastan. I won't have anything stand in the way of Rabastan's recovery."

"I will keep a closer eye on him, but as a Gryffindor, it is harder for me to be around him at all times than if he had been in my house."

"I understand that, but the boy is a true Gryffindor at heart and he wouldn't consent to being moved, even if there was a way to move him, I'm sure of it. Just do what you can and if there is anything that you see or hear, get in touch with me immediately. I will do what I can as his Father."

"How is he as a son?"

"He's more intelligent than I would have expected. There is a surprisingly quick, focused mind under all of that hair. He's usually well behaved and he responds well to punishments when he isn't well behaved. He is surprisingly easy to teach, he picks up things quickly and easily and when he actually applies himself, he can understand things to a depth that I wouldn't have believed him capable of. You should see a new side to him this year, Severus. I've told him that if he doesn't apply himself one hundred percent then he will be severely punished and he will have all of his privileges stripped from him once he's home."

"I am surprised to see him with that hair still."

Lucius sighed aggravatedly. "There is nothing to be done for it. I tried to have it cut back respectably, but that never worked as I planned, so I had him use copious amounts of potions on it and still nothing worked…I gave up and told him that as long as he brushed it twice a day that I wouldn't have him completely shave his head. Not that you could tell that he's brushed it at all, but I trust him to do as I say."

"Has he taken to instruction well?"

"He has taken to it wonderfully well. He needed a parental figure, someone to give him a structured set of rules and guidelines to follow and to give him punishments that are both fair and just to reprimand bad behaviour and someone to be strict enough to stick to them. He has had no direction throughout his life and hearing of how those abhorrent Muggles treated him, I can understand why he craves a known set of rules and a punishment that he knows isn't going to change daily. I need to speak to him about the letter Draco sent to me, I need to find out how badly he was treated other than his rushed admission of being beaten and starved, I need to break it down into more finery as well, then I'll make a decision to see if he needs a Mind Healer or not."

"Draco told you that it was that bad?" Severus questioned with surprise.

"Draco told me that the boy was beaten and starved since he was a young child. Harry confirmed that he said as much to Draco, but it could be a lot worse from the way the boy is acting about it. Such a thing repulses me."

"As soon as Harry tells you where they live…" Xerxes trailed off, his strong, age lined face was pale and tight with anger. "I've come to like that boy and what he's doing for Rabastan. He's good for my boy, that he's been hurt deliberately in such a way…I'd kill those beasts in a heartbeat."

"I think we're all in agreement for that, Xerxes." Lucius said. "I would be happy to invite you to pay them a visit once I have their address from Harry."

"I wouldn't mind a night with them. Several hours under a heavy silencing ward with them at my mercy in revenge for Harry." Xerxes sighed. "I'm sure it would make Rabastan and Rodolphus happy too, once I've told them. Perhaps letting off some steam will do them both some good and aid in their recovery."

Lucius nodded as they reached the property boundaries. "I will contact you once I have spoken to Harry then. Good evening gentlemen."

With that, the three of them Apparated away to their respective houses, leaving the grounds of the heavily warded, heavily guarded, previously abandoned manor house that their Lord was hidden inside.

* * *

><p>Xerxes was very confused when he finally found his Grandsons in the mismatched house, only to see Rodolphus comforting a sobbing Rabastan in the front room when he got home. He'd only just told their Lord how well Rabastan was coming on, only to find him in this disgraceful state upon his return.<p>

"What in the name of Merlin has happened?" He demanded of his Grandsons.

"It's Harry." Rodolphus told him.

"Is he alright? He hasn't been injured has he?" He asked quickly.

"No, he hasn't sent Rabastan a letter in three weeks, but an hour ago a letter turned up with Hedwig, one that looked like he'd been writing it for two weeks, but it isn't finished. Harry cut himself off in mid-sentence, left a cryptic ending about needing to talk to Rabastan face to face and ended it with a rushed signature."

"He's going to break off the betrothal, I know he is!" Rabastan growled in a rough voice that was harsh from his tears. "I'm not what he wants, of course I'm not. I'm ugly and old and decrepit! He's going to want some young thing that's handsome and strong, who hasn't been ruined by years in Azkaban and I'm not regaining my strength quickly enough, I know that. I'll never be able to regain what Azkaban has taken from me and he sees that too, he doesn't want to be stuck with the likes of me for the rest of his life."

"I think you have the wrong end of the stick." Xerxes told his Grandson, easing himself down beside him. "Young Draco sent his Father a letter a week or so ago. Harry unwittingly revealed some rather…_unsavoury_ facts about his childhood and he's been forced to come out with the truth. If this is about what I think it is, then he sent you that letter in haste before the news could get to you from someone other than himself, so that it doesn't look like he's hiding anything from you. He sent a message to Lucius just hours after Draco did and then he must have waited for his owl to come back before sending this letter to you. I assure you though he is not looking to break the contract, in fact, from what Lucius was saying he's already preparing for a quick engagement, so I suggest that you have a ring fashioned for him ready for when he comes home for the winter holidays."

"What happened to him in his childhood?" Rabastan demanded, becoming the protective man that Azkaban had tried to whittle away and that Harry had rekindled.

Xerxes sighed. "I know very little, as does Draco and Lucius I imagine, as Harry wasn't very forthcoming with details on the train journey, and his letter to Lucius was rushed, but from what he let slip, he was abused, beaten and starved as a young child by those Muggle beasts that he lived with. It's why he accepted the adoption with the Malfoy family so easily, he'd never known the love and care of a real family before and now he craves it."

"They hurt him?" Rabastan growled. "My betrothed? I'll kill them. I'll kill all of them and I'll make it slow, for all the years that my Harry had to suffer from them! I will find out what they did to him, every last little thing and I'll make sure that they suffer for every single one of the instances where they hurt or upset him."

"That was the thought of Lucius and I." Xerxes nodded. "He's going to talk to Harry, see if he needs a Mind Healer after everything that he's been through, as he is clinging to the three Malfoys quite tightly despite how little time he's actually truly known them, and then he's going to find out from him where those Muggles live and he's going to invite us to go with him to pay them a little visit. Those pieces of filth will regret every instance that they laid a finger on him or denied him food before the end."

The three of them slipped into contemplative silence and stayed with their own thoughts, thinking about all the painful, horrifying curses that they knew and would use on those Muggles once they found out how very badly they had hurt Harry.

"Does our Lord have any news or new missions for us?" Rodolphus asked after several minutes of internal pleasure, thinking of the effects his curses would have on mere Muggles.

"No, he asks that you remain on your recovery regimes and that you work on making yourselves healthy and combat ready. He also asks, Rabastan, that you do your all to keep Harry attached to you and that you do nothing to sever the bond between you, he is very pleased at the progress you have made with the boy and he is pleased that you are both getting healthier and fitter. He is content to plan and send out lower level Death Eaters for the assassinations that he needs completed, he is content to wait until you are both better."

"I dislike not being able to help the cause." Rodolphus said in frustration. "Rabastan has a mission of sorts. He has Harry and he has to work on his betrothal, I have nothing to distract myself with."

"You could always try to get that Wife of yours with child. It wouldn't hurt to at least try, even if you had to force her."

Rodolphus' face pinched in disgust at the thought of sleeping with his own Wife.

"I wouldn't put it past her to purposely thwart my reluctant attempts by injuring herself while carrying the baby and then I would have done so for naught. It would be just like her." He sneered.

"I say it often, but your Father is the biggest fool I've ever had the displeasure of knowing." Xerxes sighed. "If it weren't for the both of you, I would be happy to call him my biggest mistake. He took too much from that bitch Wife of mine and I was always away on missions for our Lord, so Lyvia got into his head and the sparse time that I spent with him was not enough to combat her potent poison. I'm glad that he never had the chance to do the same to you both, that he left you to me and flounced off to India after the death of your Mother to leave me to raise you both in peace. You two are the sons that I always wanted to have, but all I got was Rhadamanthus."

"You know we see you more as our Father than him." Rabastan said. "I didn't even meet him until the year after I graduated Hogwarts and then I was thrown into Azkaban only a few short years afterwards. The one and only time that he actually came and visited was when Rodolphus was fifteen and he only came back to set up his engagement with Bellatrix and I was spending that summer in Brazil with that penfriend I had. I never had enough interaction with him to see him as anything other than a distant relative; he's a near stranger to me."

"I feel the same way. I was three when he left and I don't remember that far back. All I can remember of my childhood is you, Grandfather. How happy I was, how happy _we_ were. How you taught us and built us up. You are my Father in my mind, even if it's not official. That man came back when I was fifteen, because he thought I was actually a year older, he thought I was sixteen already and he was actually angry with me when I informed this stranger in my home that I was only fifteen. He set up that engagement immediately, regardless of anything else and he told me that it was my duty to the Lestrange line to accept. You were away on a mission, Grandfather, I had no one to help me, so I was pressured into signing the contract over that summer and I have regretted it since."

"You boys are the apples of my eye. I care for you both, but I can't forgive that son of mine for abandoning you both, even if it was the best thing that could have happened for all involved. I will never forgive him for what he did to you Rodolphus, it is as simple as that. If he puts another foot out of line, I will dispose of him and I hope that you boys don't think ill of me for that, if it comes to pass."

"Of course not, Grandfather." Rabastan said. "After all the meetings, Harry has been hinting at the same thing. He says that my Father isn't good for me and that he's hindering my recovery and if he had to, he'd be willing to eliminate the threat to me."

Xerxes was surprised but he chuckled darkly. "I've said it numerous times before over the last month or so, but I really do like that boy. I'm glad that he's joining the family. He'll fit in well. I must remember to tell Lucius that his son is planning cold blooded murder, he'll be so proud of how far Harry has come in just seven weeks."

"He's said now that he wants five children at a minimum. It was in the letter that he just sent me. I'm not sure if he's testing my reactions or if he really wants even more children than that but has been told to only have the three children. It feels like he's working on bringing me around to his way of thinking and his desire to have more than the three that he's been told to have. But as of our last correspondence, he wishes for five children."

Xerxes laughed. "You get a ring on that boy's finger this winter, Rabastan, you hear me. You can't let a treasure like that get away from you. The most you could expect from a Pureblooded witch is one or two children, if you had a Wife like your brother then you'd have none. Five! I can hardly wait for you both to be married. I don't care if he's testing you or being told to only have so many by others, you get that boy with as many children as you can."

"Tell Grandfather how Harry formatted his letter for you, brother." Rodolphus teased with a smirk.

Rabastan laughed scratchily and pulled a long, actually an incredibly long, letter from his pocket and unfolded the piece of parchment that had to have been at least two feet in length, if not longer. He could definitely understand why his Grandsons had come to the conclusion that Harry had been writing it for two or so weeks.

Xerxes took the letter and looked at it and he laughed as he saw that each different paragraph was in a different coloured ink.

"I mentioned to him just once that sometimes I have trouble following long passages of text because I forget where I was and I can't find where I'd left off in a passage easily."

"So he wrote you a two foot long letter and put each paragraph in a drastically different colour so that you knew exactly where you were and if you did lose your place, you'd know what you'd already read from the colours. That boy is coming very close to worming his way into my cold heart."

"Rabastan almost had a heart attack when he saw the length of the letter, then he realised what Harry had done for him and he almost cried from happiness." Rodolphus said, getting a shove from his younger brother in the process.

Xerxes smiled as he read the words that Harry had written. He could tell that the boy really had come to love his Rabastan and he couldn't be happier…except perhaps when Harry presented him with his very first great-grandchild. The next generation of Lestranges.

* * *

><p>Harry was upset and fed up. This was the second time in a month that he had to hunt all over the school and the grounds for his belongings. He contented himself with the knowledge that this would be the last time though. He'd gotten permission from Professor Flitwick to get an advanced Charms book from the Restricted Section of the library. One that contained an incredibly powerful locking charm that the imbeciles in his dorm room wouldn't be able to break in their wildest daydreams.<p>

As he snatched up another one of his books that had been jammed into the visor of a suit of armour, its spine twisted and the leather cover and the pages shredded, he vowed that he would have his revenge for this.

"What are you doing?"

Harry turned to look at his brother and Draco and his friends actually took a step back from the anger and hate in his eyes.

"They won't get away with this." He hissed.

"They took all of your stuff _again_?!" Draco demanded.

"Everything, even my robes this time. I had to transfigure my pyjamas into a normal shirt and trousers to come looking for my things. They even took my fucking trunk."

"I thought you were going to get a locking charm." Blaise asked.

"I got one, but it took a while to convince Flitwick of why I needed a book from the Restricted Section, too long. I was going to cast the charm tonight, after I'd gotten used to the spell, but it seems that they got there before I did and they spent the night throwing my stuff all over the castle."

"Come on, let's look for it all." Draco sighed as he headed off in the opposite direction, looking high and low for books or clothes stuffed into alcoves or behind statues.

Harry was so angry and it fed the cold, icy anger inside of him, engorging it and causing it to grow bigger until he could barely see straight from the anger. They would come to regret this; he'd make damn sure of it.

It took him hours to find everything that he'd lost, including spotting his trunk bobbing in the lake from the third floor. By the time he'd gotten all of his things back, dried those that were soaking wet from being thrown into the lake or down a toilet, it was almost dinner time.

He'd wasted an entire day, that he had previously planned to spend studying, chasing down his own possessions. Some of which were so wet or so damaged that he didn't even want to keep them, including the shredded robes that he'd found pieces of all over the fifth and sixth floors.

"I sent a list to Father of all the things that are too damaged or not worth saving. He'll have new ones sent to you soon." Draco told him.

"Even my trunk has been warped by spending the night in the lake." He groused. He was in a foul mood.

"I say that we curse them." Blaise said.

"No need. I found a very _handy_ charm in that book that I got from the Restricted Section. If they try to open my locked trunk again…they're going to seriously regret it."

"What does it do?" Draco asked eagerly.

"Let's just say that they won't be using their hands again for a while." Harry grinned.

"You know that they're going to try again." Draco said with a happy smirk.

"I'm counting on it." Harry grinned wider.

"I love this new side of you." Blaise insisted.

"It's always been there, I just never exercised it much."

"You've always wanted to curse people?" Draco asked with disbelief and a touch of surprise.

Harry looked at him seriously. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course. On my honour as a Malfoy."

"I actually cast the Cruciatus curse on Bellatrix right after she killed Sirius, before any of this happened and before I was adopted. That fake Moody in fourth year really shouldn't have demonstrated those spells; he not only showed us their effects, but he taught us all the incantations and wand movements for the Unforgivables too."

The two sixteen year olds opposite gaped at him and Harry shrugged. "She is the person that I hate most in this world."

"But, the Dark Lord, he killed…you know." Blaise said uncomfortably.

"Yes, but I never knew them. I can't even draw upon one memory of them; I was too young to remember so they're just a concept to me, something I knew I had, but I don't have anymore. You can't miss something that you don't remember having. But I knew Sirius well, I loved him, I had memories and presents off of him. I remember how he looked and smelt, how tightly he used to hug me, the sound of his voice, the feel of his robes under my hands, his loud laugh, the way he prepared the coffee that he was always drinking from the moment he got up until the moment he went to bed, he always put it in his favourite mug. I loved him, I remember everything about him and she killed him right in front of me, a memory that haunts me every _single_ night and leaves me bathed in a cold sweat. I hate her the most…her and Umbridge. I'll never forgive either of them."

Harry left the two boys staring after him and he went to redo all of his homework, as his originals had all been destroyed last night. He'd had to borrow a quill, ink and parchment off of Draco.

He reached Gryffindor Tower with no problems and he sighed as he went up to the boys' dormitory and made it to his bed, where all of his salvageable things were waiting for his attention. He had no robes, no clothes, hardly any books left (none of them were undamaged), no trunk and his Firebolt was still missing. The one thing that he had off of Sirius was his beloved Firebolt and he was not going to let them get away with taking such a precious gift from him. They had no right to even touch it.

The broom was personalised to him anyway, so they couldn't even try to claim it as theirs, everyone knew that he was the only person in Hogwarts with a Firebolt, but it was an inconvenience, because he was holding Quidditch try outs tomorrow. He needed new Beaters, a new Chaser and a new Keeper, and if certain members of the Gryffindor team were as difficult as his dorm mates were being, especially after the way Ginny had reacted to him in the library, then he would need to hold more try outs for more players on top of the new Beaters, Chaser and the Keeper that he already needed. Maybe he should just replace the entire Gryffindor team, it might actually be easier, but then he hadn't seen Katie Bell yet, maybe she didn't care that he'd been adopted at all, he'd have to find out otherwise he'd be the only member of the team that had been on the team last year.

He sat on his bed and he redid his homework, using the notes that Blaise and Draco had kindly given to him, because again his had gone missing in the night. Instead of learning more about Ancient Runes and Arithmancy and reading more to make himself understand more, he was now redoing homework that was due in next week. Thankfully it was a Saturday and not a weekday, so he had the time he needed to do it all again, even if it did ruin all of his plans of self-study.

Hopefully all of his new things would arrive by Monday morning, because he only had what he was currently wearing and he couldn't keep transfiguring them into pyjamas and back and he had no socks to wear and no change of underwear either, he felt like he was back in the cupboard, wearing his cousin's too big, baggy briefs and a pair of trousers and a shirt that were several sizes too big for him.

He clenched his teeth together and took in several long, deep breaths. He would have his revenge on them, even if he had to wait weeks to implement it. He would pay them back for what they'd done to him twice now. It was only a matter of time and he could hardly wait to take his revenge on them now.

* * *

><p>Harry had been forced to hold try outs on a borrowed school broom, but Professor McGonagall had promised him that she wouldn't accept thievery and she'd have his broom back with him soon. He'd tried to summon it twice now, but wherever it was, it wasn't responding to his spell.<p>

He'd still shown up most of the applicants for the team positions on the school broom and he'd thrown Ginny off of the team after she refused to stop belittling him and had petulantly and blatantly ignored his Captain's orders. From her face, she hadn't expected him to react at all, let alone by throwing her off of the team. It was her own fault for being so puerile and bitter over his adoption. If she couldn't be happy for him, then fine, but if she couldn't even put it aside long enough to get ten minutes into a practice session without sneering and belittling him, then he was not going to put up with her. It made it better because he knew that she wanted to be a professional player, her chances of that now were slimmer, because any team she applied to could look into her school records and see that she had been kicked off of her school team for unprofessional conduct.

He'd made a whole new team, though Katie Bell was still a Chaser with the new addition of Demelza Robins and a new girl to replace Ginny named Sarah Priskin. His two new Beaters were third years and his Keeper was a second year. He had a young team, with a touch of experience from himself and Katie. If he played his cards right and trained them superbly, then this team would be Gryffindor's triumph for the next four years.

He had also prepared a reserve team, who were very, very young, all second years with one third year as a Beater. The twelve year old Seeker was being trained personally by him and the poor boy had almost wet himself when Harry had told him what would be happening from now on and that he would be having personal lessons to help him fly and to hone his skills to be an excellent Seeker. He had this year and the next to get this young boy into shape and up to the standard that he expected and then, when he graduated, he'd leave behind his handpicked team as his legacy.

Monday morning saw a regal owl landing in front of him with a large parcel and Harry smiled as he took the letter from the owl's beak and tore it open, thankful that he had as Lucius warned him that as soon as the parcel was free of the packaging, it would all resize and the weightless charm would disengage.

He abandoned his half eaten breakfast and took his parcel back up to Gryffindor tower and into the dormitories. He tore it open eagerly and watched as his brand new, sleek trunk resized itself. He grinned as he noticed the personal touches on it, the dark wood, the gleaming polish, the little carved vines around the edges, the Malfoy crest stamped onto the front and the small inscription of his name in gold on the front of the rounded lid, just above the seam where the trunk opened.

He grinned wider and flung it open and his mouth actually hurt from his smile when he saw all the new books, the pristine robes (both school ones and his brand new Quidditch robes in scarlet red and yellow) and all of the things that he needed, plain black socks, plain black boxer-briefs, two sets of black gloves, one pair was sheepskin for the winter and the other pair was dragonhide for the summer, everything that he had lost had not only been replaced, but had been upgraded with a Malfoy twist of flair. He loved it and what he loved more was the letter and the small, wrapped gift, right on the top of everything, with Rabastan's distinctive, shaky writing on the front. He was just sad that he didn't have the time to open it just yet, he had lessons in just twenty minutes. He swore that he would do so at lunch time now. The waiting would just make him that much more excited to open it.

He immediately cast the locking charm on the trunk and the little added _extra_, he wouldn't make the same mistake twice and they were not going to destroy any gifts that he'd been given by his adoptive Father.

He went to his bedside drawer, thankful that his dorm mates hadn't bothered to look through the drawers of his bedside table, likely to avoid waking him up as the bedside table was right next to his head, and he took out his Father's invisibility cloak, several framed pictures of his parents, the album that Hagrid had given to him, his three vault keys and his exchange book. All of them went right into his trunk to be covered by the protective charms and he smiled. All he needed now was his Firebolt back, and he would get it back, of that he promised. He would get it back and he would have his revenge on those who had taken it in the first place.

He immediately changed himself out of the clothes that he'd been wearing for the last few days (it was a relief to finally change his boxers and actually get on a pair of socks), wearing all fresh clothing and the pair of highly polished new shoes that Lucius had sent to him before he slung his new backpack over his shoulder and he made his way to his lessons feeling so much better and he was happy to know that it would never happen again. Those imbeciles would not be able to break that locking charm and after the brilliant effects of the additional charm that was on the trunk kicked in, they would regret even trying to touch his stuff.

His day passed well enough and he loved the looks on his dorm mates faces when they saw him not only wearing brand new, high quality clothing, but also handing in his completed homework. It made him smile as he sat himself next to Draco, who he'd informed of all the goings on and his new delivery of items.

"Your trunk matches mine, only my name is done in silver."

"You do have a fondness for silver." Harry said with a smile.

"What is your favourite colour? I don't think you've ever said."

"I don't know. I've never really thought about it, but I am drawn to several different colours for different reasons. Gold definitely, because it's the colour of the snitch, blue because it's the colour of the sky, which represents freedom to me and my love of flying, green because of my eyes, which always make my think of my Mum, yellow because of the sun, which represents happiness. I just…I don't have one colour that I like, I'm drawn to several of them."

"You really are special." Draco told him and Harry chuckled quietly. "And speaking of special, have you heard more from that special person of yours?"

Harry grinned. "He sent me a letter this morning. It was in the trunk along with a small gift. I never had the time to open it; I'm going to do it at lunch. I really can't wait, I want to know what he has to say and what he sent to me."

"You have it so bad for him."

"I know, but I can't help it. It's insane, I never expected to even like him, but I do, Draco. I really do. I want to help him, I want him to get better and I know it'll take a long time, but I want to be there for him, to help him. He's letting me do everything that I want to, if I say I want five kids, he says fine, if I said I wanted ten of them, I'm sure that he'd agree. He let me talk about our ceremony for three hours and he just agreed with me. He's not at all what I was expecting."

"What, you thought he'd be an insane, rambling lunatic who fired off curses at shadows?" Draco murmured under his breath, barely audible to Harry, who was bending his head near Draco's mouth and even he had trouble hearing him.

"Well, that's not exactly what I thought, but I did say to myself that if he was like that then I wouldn't even consider him, but I wasn't expecting him to be so caring or attentive. So…normal, I guess, despite what _that place_ did to him. He's damaged, jumpy and twitchy, but that will get better with the right potions and the right medical attention, I'm sure of it. Despite that, he actually seems near enough normal. He reacts normally, not like Bellatrix. She not only jumped at shadows, she cursed them too without thinking. No, Rabastan comes across as normal to me, did he come out of Azkaban like this, or is it thanks to his recovery programme?"

"He was much worse when he first came out, Harry, believe me when I say that. You didn't get to see him at his worst and thankfully I missed a lot of it too because I was at school, but I remember seeing a bit of him during the holidays and when I got home for the summer, Mother and Father were talking a lot about too. You missed the worst of the effects, when Rabastan was clinging to his brother and refused to let go of him, when they had to walk around holding hands and they had to share the same baths, the same bed and they refused to be separated long enough to go to the bathroom separately. That was a very bad time, but they've both improved a lot since that time and given some more time, I'm sure that they're only going to get better."

Harry nodded his head in agreement and he then turned to actually start on his class work. He did like Rabastan and he was surprised that the man was actually near enough normal, or as normal as someone really could be after fifteen long, harsh years in Azkaban, but he was sure that given a few more years then he'd be much better than he was at the moment, he had already improved. Draco had told him what he'd once been like and he was much better now than he had been then and now that Rabastan had him, Harry was going to help him to recover as much as possible, because he wanted Rabastan to be better, he wanted Rabastan to regain his strength and he was sure that Rabastan wanted that as well.

Together he was sure that they could get Rabastan to where he needed to be and he hoped that he was enough to help Rabastan, was he enough of an incentive for the man to get better? Would he want to get better for their potential future family? Would that be enough of an incentive for the man? If he wasn't enough, then would the thought of their future children be enough of a drive to help Rabastan recover as fully as possible? He didn't know the answer to that and it drove him crazy. He just wanted Rabastan to get better and to recover from his awful ordeal. He wanted them to be a proper, normal family. He wanted Rabastan to get better so that they could love one another, so that they could have and love their future children. He wanted that so badly that he was willing to do absolutely anything to make it a reality.

On the other hand though, even though he knew that Rabastan's body would mostly heal from the damage that had been done to it over the decade and a half he had spent in Azkaban, he was also sure that as he spent more time with Rabastan, talked to him more and got to know him a little more, then he would find some very dark secrets, after all, he himself had nightmares from what he'd gone through in his life…he would be incredibly surprised if Rabastan didn't have some nightmares of his own.

* * *

><p>AN: I hope you have all enjoyed this chapter, lovelies and I hope I've done a bit of justice to the book version Voldemort, who is a little saner than in canon, but not too sane as he is still a vile, cruel man. But I needed to do something to help make the plot line at least seem realistic…so I've had to make Voldemort a little more sane and more willing to let Harry live and I've had to make Harry more open minded and accepting as well as more clingy to the idea of family thanks to his lack of one and the abuse of the Dursleys. Otherwise there would be absolutely no chance of this working, so just roll with it, lovelies.

A massive thanks to **nekochan1988** for being the **300****th**** reviewer** and to **Huny Bajer** for being the **400****th**** reviewer** for this fic.

**Josh**: Voldemort looks the same as he does in canon. Tall and thin with a bald head, gleaming red eyes, no nose, snake like. The works.

**Chaos Lady**: I checked on this again, just to make sure and Snowy owls are definitely smaller than Eagle owls. The wing span of a female snowy owl is between 49 and 59 inches, but the male Eagle owl's wing span is between 63 and 74 inches long, so Draco's owl would have been bigger and much faster than Hedwig and she would have been little to Harry, who is a sixteen year old boy after all. My Jethro is a large cat and he's 11lbs and I still call him little, it's just habit now.

The next chapter now is going to be October into November and Hogwarts gets a visit from the lovely Lucius Malfoy. We also get some more Narcissa and a scene of Harry/Hedwig bonding, but until then, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all soon, unless you want to join me on Facebook. I'm under the name StarLight Mass on there and then I hope to be seeing you much sooner,

StarLight Massacre. X


	5. Revenge

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to **Of Stories Told **because seriously, that review took me half an hour to read and respond to. Thank you very much.

_Last Time_

_On the other hand though, even though he knew that Rabastan's body would mostly heal from the damage that had been done to it over the decade and a half he had spent in Azkaban, he was also sure that as he spent more time with Rabastan, talked to him more and got to know him a little more, then he would find some very dark secrets, after all, he himself had nightmares from what he'd gone through in his life…he would be incredibly surprised if Rabastan didn't have some nightmares of his own. _

Chapter Five – Revenge

Life for Harry was going well, as October came to a slow end with him taking the Thursday evening, Halloween night, to remember both of his parents and their sacrifice for him. He really hoped that they would have approved of his choices in life as he really was trying his best. But he'd had no direction at all as he was growing up and all he had to go on was the Dursleys and how they had acted and behaved and yet, despite them being the only role models that he'd had, he knew that they were the worst sort of intolerable people imaginable and that he didn't want to act or turn out like them.

He had _needed_ someone like Lucius to take over and steer him onto the right path, otherwise he had no idea where he was going to end up or how he was going to look after himself when he was eighteen and Uncle Vernon kicked him from the house. He had the money, but he'd had no idea how to use it or what he'd need to do to get his own house set up and running smoothly until Lucius had actually spent the time showing him and teaching him.

Perhaps if Sirius had been alive things could have gone differently, but he wasn't and he hadn't told him about his Lordship either. Though now that he'd seen and spoken to Rabastan and Rodolphus, he had to wonder if Sirius had even remembered the Lordships. The two brothers were scatter brained at times too, perhaps Sirius just hadn't remembered and thus couldn't have told him. It comforted him a little to think that Azkaban had just destroyed Sirius' memory rather than the thought of his Godfather keeping something like that from him purposefully. He really hated Azkaban and he wanted it closed down, though he would settle for banishing the vile Dementors from being near humans as they really, really should not have ever been allowed around people, regardless of what they'd done. He would change the way that the prison system was run, he was already researching everything that he could get his hands on and the little that he'd already found out was very disturbing and greatly concerned him. Things really needed to change…quickly.

November had arrived cold and bitter, dragging with it Gryffindor's first game of the season. He'd had a little over a month to get his new team up to scratch and the other teams were openly laughing at him because he had such a young team and an even younger reserve team. He refused to rise to any provocation and he just ignored Draco, who was the Slytherin team Seeker, and Blaise, who was one of the Slytherin Chasers, when they pressed him and teased him about it.

He had a good, solid team, despite their young age and if his worst fears came to be realised and his young, inexperienced team fell apart under the pressure of an actual official game, then he was still the best damn Seeker in this school and he would catch the snitch before they were completely pulverised. Not that he expected them to be of course, that was just in case the worst case scenario came to pass, but he had every faith in his team. They would win this game, and this entire season and the Quidditch cup too, and show up all of those people laughing at them. That really would show them all up rotten.

But it was currently breakfast time and Harry had been told to go to the Headmaster's office once he was finished with his meal by Professor McGonagall. Harry had a very good idea of what this meeting was going to be about too.

It had taken another few weeks, a little over a full month later, but eventually his idiot dorm mates had gone after his trunk yet again, as if they thought that he wouldn't protect his things after the first time that they'd targeted him. The second time they'd managed to destroy his things had been a bit of bad luck on his part and some poor timing due to extenuating circumstances, but a third time? No…they hadn't been able to get into his locked trunk, nor could they lift it from where it was placed by the end of his bed and all of his dorm mates had taken it in turns to try and lift his trunk like the idiots that they were. They'd gone back to sleep frustrated and planning to talk about something else that they could do to him the following day…only to wake up in agony late the next morning with their hands blistered and leaking pus, clear, sticky plasma and in some places, even blood. Half of the school had seen Ron, Dean and Seamus rushing through the corridors, still in their pyjamas, and running with their leaking, grotesque hands out in front of them towards the hospital wing, as the other students made their way to the Great Hall for their breakfasts.

Harry had caught up to Draco and Blaise, who had only just heard about the incident from a Ravenclaw seventh year, who had had the good fortune of waking up early to send off a letter, and he had insisted that he'd passed three Gryffindor boys screaming and running towards the hospital wing on his way down to the Great Hall. He had followed them curiously and he had found four boys in the hospital wing all in agonising pain due to a spell that had affected all of their hands.

"What did you do?" Draco had immediately demanded when he'd first seen him that morning.

Harry had laughed happily. "I did say that the curse on the trunk would make them think twice about coming near my things again."

"Did it really make their hands fall off?"

Harry's eyes had widened comically at that. "No! Where on Earth did you hear that? It just blistered their hands to teach them a lesson for stealing, they'll be bound up with healing paste for a few days, but they'll be just fine."

Harry had been so satisfied when he'd seen his dorm mates again, it had been no less than the lot of them had deserved; though he was very surprised to see Neville with bound up, blistered hands too. He hadn't been in the dorm room when the others had woken up, so Harry had assumed that he had had nothing to do with the attacks on him. He had been wrong and Neville had just woken up earlier than anyone else and had made his own way to the hospital wing before the other three had woken up and started screaming bloody murder. That had saddened him, he had thought that even if Neville hadn't wanted to be his friend anymore that he wouldn't sink so low as to damage his stuff. It seemed that he was wrong about that and he hardened his heart, blocking out the pain he felt at that particular perceived betrayal.  
>At least he no longer felt torn in half about being in a betrothal contract with one of the men who had tortured his 'friend's' parents. If Neville had stayed out of all of this and had remained amicable, if a little distant, towards him then Harry might have had a harder time getting over what Rabastan had done fifteen years ago in his youth to Frank and Alice Longbottom, but now that Neville had been revealed as one of the people who had stolen from him, and as one of the people involved in damaging all of his possessions, he brushed aside such consideration for their previous friendship. As far as he was now concerned war was war and there were always two sides and casualties and tragedies on each.<p>

Neville had targeted him first, had attacked him first, so he hardened his heart and he shoved aside all thoughts of what Rabastan had done to the Longbottom family, as far as he was now concerned, he and Neville were nothing. Rabastan was his future and Neville had made his choice very clear by attacking him and as a result of that, Harry had been able to make his own choice more easily and with less guilt too. Rabastan would have always been his choice regardless of Neville's behaviour, but because Neville had attacked him, it took away the guilt that Harry had felt in taking Rabastan for a Husband and the eventual Father to his children and that made him feel better.

But now, today, less than a week after the charm on his trunk had been activated, he had been called to the Headmaster's office and he was sure it was to answer for why he had such a charm on his trunk in the first place. He'd already sent a letter to Rabastan telling him all about what he'd done, including subtle pictures of what his dorm mates had looked like before their hands had been treated, taken with his wand when they'd been screaming and shouting to each other, and at him, in the dorm room, and then a second photo of them all with heavily bandaged hands and arms afterwards. He'd shown these pictures to Draco and Blaise as well, to give the Slytherins a laugh at his ex-friends' expense, and he had then sent them on to Lucius.

He wasn't rushing to the Headmaster's little meeting though; he was leisurely taking his time with his breakfast, he'd eaten his bacon, eggs and toast and now he was enjoying a bowl of fresh fruit salad as well, all washed down with three chilled glasses of pumpkin juice.

Breakfast was almost over when he finally drained the rest of his glass and got smoothly to his feet. It was a weekend thankfully, otherwise he would have refused to attend the meeting due to the disruption it would cause to his schooling. The look on Dumbledore's face would have been a real picture, but instead the man had wisely waited for the weekend to pull him up on his charmed trunk. He hated to admit it, but Dumbledore had probably guessed that that was what he would have done, which was why he'd waited a full six days, and the start of the weekend, to summon him to his office.

Harry sighed and made his way up to the Headmaster's office for the second time this year…it was only just the second of November! He gave the same password as he had the first time he'd been here and climbed the revolving stairs before knocking on the door and waiting to be told to enter.

Remus wasn't in the room this time, but Snape and McGonagall were.

"Nice of you to keep us waiting for you for half of the morning, Potter." Snape sneered at him.

"I was finishing my breakfast, Professor. Surely you wouldn't deny me the chance to finish eating?" Harry questioned softly. "If you wanted me here just after I'd been told about the meeting, then why not schedule it closer to the end of breakfast and not before I'd even started eating? Or even for ten or eleven in the morning, which likely would have been best for all involved, it seems."

"Do you know what this meeting is for, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry pulled up a chair between Snape and McGonagall without being asked, despite Narcissa's lessons on etiquette swirling around in his mind and his shoulders hunched instinctively, expecting the familiar hex to the back of his head for his social faux pas.

"Not really, sir. I was hoping that my Firebolt had been found, but as I can't see it anywhere, I doubt that that is the reason that I'm here." He answered, being purposefully obtuse. He knew that he was here because of the charm on his trunk. He doubted that the Headmaster was even looking for his Firebolt. Lucius was going to sort it out for him, he'd already promised him in his last letter to get it back.

"You are here under the allegation of using dark magic against your fellow housemates in the form of a curse on your school trunk."

Harry didn't even need to fake his surprise. "Dark magic? Are you teachers at this school or not? It was an anti-thievery charm. I brought my complaints personally to you twice about my things being stolen, and then stolen and completely destroyed, all of which had to be replaced at my Father's expense. I was not going to allow that to happen again for a third time, so I charmed my belongings. But at least now you have that proof that you wanted about who was stealing my property, sir and I'm sure if they were questioned, then my missing broomstick would be found too."

"Potter has a point, Albus. Those boys were purposefully stealing and they damaged nearly all of Mister Potter's things to the point where they actually had to be replaced and a very valuable broomstick is still missing. I will not stand for this behaviour to happen within my house." McGonagall said sternly.

"What charm did you use, Potter? I didn't recognise it, but I could tell that it wasn't a curse and certainly nothing to do with the dark arts. Where did you find the book?" Snape asked.

"It was in the Restricted Section, Sir. Professor Flitwick gave me permission to go into the Restricted Section to find a spell that would help me to protect my newly replaced belongings and he even recommended the book to me after I told him that people kept taking my stuff, he said that there was a very strong locking charm in there. I found that charm and while I had it, I read the whole book from cover to cover, the other charm was also in the book and I added it to my trunk as well. The way I see it, they shouldn't have been trying to steal my stuff for a third time and potentially trying to destroy it again for a second time. They were a bit discomfited for a few days, but no lasting or permanent damage has been done to them. Madam Pomfrey could tell you that herself."

"Even so, don't you think such a thing is a little…uncalled for?"

Harry blinked incredulously, but he held his temper back by the skin of his teeth.

"They not only stole off of me, but they damaged all of my belongings, tore up all of my robes, clothes and my homework, smashed all of my bottles of ink, ruined all of my books and even my trunk and they were going to do so again and you think that me protecting the brand new books, clothing and trunk that my Father sent to me is uncalled for? No, I don't think so and as my very valuable broom is still missing over a month after it was stolen then I think it is fair to say that you aren't even looking for it. I think I'll take my Father up on his offer of bringing the attention of the school governors to this matter." Harry threatened him. "I want my Firebolt back and I want those pestilent _boys_ to leave me alone. I will petition to have my own sleeping quarters if this matter…_persists_."

"I don't believe that this is a matter for the governors to discuss."

"Under usual circumstances, neither would I." Harry insisted. "But twice I've been attacked in this way and almost a third time and my Firebolt is still missing. I think that if this continues for much longer then I'll have to inform the governors and let them decide on the best course of action to take. I want my Firebolt back by the end of today, or I'll send an owl to the governors. I think that's all we have to discuss, headmaster. I have homework I need to do."

Harry stood without being dismissed and he turned smartly on his heel and he left the office. He took a moment to breathe at the bottom of the stairs as a flare of ice cold anger had him pausing. It had taken him a lot to hold on to his anger in the office and he needed a moment to regain his composure.

He kicked off from the wall and made his way to the Owlery, he had a letter to send to Lucius Malfoy, who could get the other governors involved with this matter, especially after the Umbridge debacle. Her trial would be coming up soon and he really, really couldn't wait.

He would get his Firebolt back and he refused to entertain the thoughts of apologising to his dorm mates when they had been trying to steal from him. He was not in the wrong on this issue, he was the victim of thoughtless, blind attacks of petty jealousy and hate and he would not put up with it. He had no reason to put up with it and he wouldn't and if he had to call on his adoptive parents for their help, then he'd been assured that that was perfectly alright. He would not be used or made into a victim by anyone, he would make this stop by any means necessary, even if he did have to charm all of his belongings and petition to have his own rooms. He would not let them win.

* * *

><p>Harry was grinning behind his glass of pumpkin juice when twelve people walked into the Great Hall, including Lucius Malfoy, who had been reinstated as a governor, and incidentally as chairman of the board of governors, when he'd shopped Umbridge to them and to the Ministry. He had waxed-poetic about his two poor sons, one of whom had been seriously injured and permanently scarred and had almost had an Unforgivable curse used on him by the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. He'd been welcomed back onto the board as the previous chairman had been, very quickly, fired for not checking on the welfare of the students of Hogwarts and allowing Umbridge to hurt over two hundred students with the serious and severe misuse of a contract quill.<p>

"This is a surprise, Lucius." Albus said genially from the top table, standing up from his golden chair and smiling welcomingly at the entire board of governors who had entered the Great Hall.

"It is?" Lucius asked in false surprise. "I believe that my son told you that I would be arriving with the other governors. May we proceed to your office? I'm sure the children have better things to be doing than listening into our conversation."

"Of course. Of course." Dumbledore said with a twinkling smile.

"Harry, come with us, if you would." Lucius called out to him, not having to raise his voice in the silent hall.

Harry stood and slung his bag over his shoulder, moving to walk to his Father.

"Is it really necessary to bring Harry into this discussion?" Dumbledore asked.

"As the student to bring these allegations forward, you know that it is necessary for him to be present." Lucius replied smoothly. "I have been reinstated as the chairman for the board after Mister Wibblum's ah…_unfortunate_ dismissal. I have no doubts that you cowed him into letting you do as you please, but as you know, I am not so easily persuaded. I have spent the week implementing all of my old rules and regulations; you will find things changing for the better around this school once more. Now, if you would like to lead the way to your office so that we might settle this matter quickly. I have a lot to be getting on with."

Harry allowed Lucius to prod him in front, so that Lucius could watch him walk and they went up to the Headmaster's office, where Lucius waved his wand to conjure thirteen, very impressive, sumptuously upholstered armchairs and Harry sunk into the one next to his Father happily.

"Now, as Harry's Father and the chairman for the board, I would like to ask you first and foremost why you allowed my son's personal belongings to not only be stolen more than once, but also allow them to be completely destroyed by the other boys in his dormitory. Harry tells me that he came to you with this issue the moment that he'd realised that it had happened, yet not only did it happen a second and almost a third time, but my son's broomstick is still missing over a month later. Yet that is not even the end of it, no, I have checked and double checked, but the perpetrators have not even had a single hour of detention nor any loss of house points. They haven't been punished at all for attacking my son or stealing his property. This is unacceptable."

"Harry did put a charm on his trunk which severely blistered his dorm mates' hands. They couldn't use their hands at all for four days, which severely affected their school work. I believe this to be punishment enough."

"Punishment enough? A mere theft charm on a trunk?" One of the other governors scoffed. "I believe the charm was only used on their third theft attempt as well, why were they not punished right from the offset? They should have been punished from the very first instance that they stole another student's property and not doing so has only enabled and even encouraged their unacceptable behaviour to continue. Their parents never even had a letter to explain that their children had stolen another student's belongings twice and had tried to do so for a third time. Why should Lord Malfoy have to foot the bill to replace all of his son's damaged belongings? It should be the parents of the children involved who bought all of young Harry's new items."

"I spent rather a lot on my son's belongings just this August, having to replace them all again in October, just two months later, is preposterous. This should have been stopped at the very first instance of theft." Lucius said silkily, his voice soft with anger. "Harry has given me the names of those involved and as governors we have written to the parents of all involved and informed them of what their children have done and as of today, they will spend an hour every evening for the next month serving detention with their head of house."

"A month seems a little harsh." Dumbledore tried.

"I believe that it is too lenient, but I was outvoted by my fellow governors." Lucius Malfoy inclined his head to the other eleven governors. "I admit that as my son is involved, I might be allowing my personal emotions to influence my decisions, but I refuse to allow them to get away with a slap on the wrist for what they have done."

"I hardly calling blistering their hands a slap on the wrist, Lucius." Dumbledore cajoled.

"Harry had every right to protect his belongings after they had been stolen twice. This is not up for discussion, we have laid out the punishment that all twelve of us have agreed on and it will be implemented. Now, onto Harry's missing broomstick, where is it?"

"I do not know, I have been searching and following leads, but so far it hasn't turned up. I'm sure that Harry has just misplaced it."

"Don't you dare blame my son for 'losing' his broomstick when everyone in this room knows that it was stolen and is being kept from him. Do you know where the missing Firebolt is, yes or no?"

"No, I do not."

"I tried summoning it." Harry said softly, waiting just the right amount of time so that he didn't cut Dumbledore off, yet didn't speak over his Father either. "I am the only one in this school with a Firebolt, so I tried summoning it, like I did in my fourth year for the first task of the Tri-wizard Tournament. It came to me then, so I thought it would work this time, only it never responded. I think, that where ever it is, it might be under an anti-summoning charm."

Lucius chuckled. "It is in one of the girls' dormitories then. They have anti-summoning charms built into them, as they also have charms to prevent young gentlemen from entering the ladies dorm rooms. The wards were set up to prevent said young gentlemen from summoning the ladies' underwear."

Harry pulled a face. "People actually think to do that? That's just distasteful." He said with a grimace.

"Yes, but I will have the girls' dormitories searched. Madam Portist, perhaps you could do the honours, with Professor McGonagall as a school representative, of course." Lucius said. "If we could do that now, the sooner that this is all done with, the better."

Harry had to subtly suck in his bottom lip and bite on it to keep away his grin. He was almost bouncing as he walked alongside his Father and the other Governors. They picked up Professor McGonagall from her office and they went into the Gryffindor common room, where only a few students were lingering, watching them curiously, including a group of people, two of whom had bandaged hands.

The two women went up to the girls' dormitories and the two boys looked at each other nervously. Harry smiled. Lucius was right, his beloved Firebolt was inside the girls dormitories and from the look on the face of a certain bushy haired girl's face, he knew whose trunk it would be found in too.

He wished he'd known about the anti-summoning charms on the girls dormitories before, he might have linked it together a little sooner and had his Firebolt back earlier, but as long as he got his broom back, he didn't care.

"Have you been well?" Lucius asked him quietly, moving them both a little away from the main group of governors.

"Yes, I have been fine, a little stressed because of everything that has been going on here, but my school work is going well, Draco and Blaise are helping me a lot."

"I hope they aren't doing your work for you." Lucius said with a raised eyebrow.

Harry laughed softly. "No. Draco wouldn't allow me to slack off even if I did ask, he's just helping me a lot and he reads through everything I write for me. He actually crossed out half of my Ancient Runes essay two days ago and told me that I had to write it again because I'm a shame to the family."

Lucius' mouth twitched into a smile and Harry smiled back.

"I also have a gift for my special someone. I was given the most beautiful dragonhide and solid silver bracelet." Harry said, showing his wrist, with said bracelet wrapped around it, to Lucius. "So I ordered something special to be commissioned for him, it came this morning."

"I hope that it is both tasteful and appropriate."

"It's cuff links." Harry said with a frown. "Do you think that he won't like them? I didn't want to get him a bracelet or a necklace because of his severe weight loss, they wouldn't fit him anymore once he puts that weight back on and I didn't want him to have anything that physically reminds him of how much damage that place did to him once he's better."

"That is very thoughtful and considerate of you, I'm proud of you for thinking of such things. You've also been paying attention; you overheard that he likes good quality, custom cuff links, didn't you?"

"Maybe." Harry said with a grin. "I miss him."

"Soon, you'll be coming back home for Christmas. Your Mother and I have planned to invite the four of them over as our seasonal guests."

Harry groaned. "Can't you knock the one of them off? I know I'll end up saying or doing something."

"You will not if you plan to be sitting comfortably over the holidays." Lucius warned him seriously.

"But _him_!" Harry whined. He felt the tell-tale smack of the familiar hex on the back of his head.

He pouted but he remained silent. "I am looking forward to coming home." He said quietly.

"I admit, the house has been quiet since you left. Draco is a quiet boy anyway; you brought so much _noise_ to the manor."

Harry laughed. "Draco's only silent when he doesn't have someone to clash with."

"As long as you both don't come home and start biting at one another like rabid dogs again."

"We've been getting along better at school, but the Quidditch season is only just about to start, Gryffindor versus Slytherin is the first game of the season and it's scheduled for only a little over a month before Christmas. Naturally Gryffindor is going to win, so Draco will be in a bit of a mood I expect when I catch the snitch from under his nose."

Lucius' mouth twitched with the beginnings of a smile. "Don't be too hard on him."

"There is no mercy in Quidditch." Harry said passionately.

"Indeed."

Harry snapped his head to the side and stood on his tiptoes when he heard the two women coming back down the dormitory stairs and he was practically bouncing on his toes to see if they had his beloved Firebolt with them. He grinned when he caught sight of it, but was ultimately dismayed when he realised the hideous state that the tail was in.

He let out a horrified cry and rushed to seize it from Professor McGonagall and check the handle for any damage. Someone had even attempted to scratch out the golden licence numbers that proved that the broom was his.

He turned his teary gaze to Lucius who made a slight movement with his eyebrow and Harry sucked in a huge, deep breath and composed himself, his hands tightening on the broomstick that had been given to him by his now dead Godfather. The very broom that his ex-friends had tried to destroy. There was no going back from this now, they knew how very much this broom meant to him and they had still tried to damage it beyond repair. He swallowed all of the upset and the raging anger that was burning him up on the inside; he glared at the table that held Ron, Dean, Hermione and Ginny, who were all trying to avoid the gaze of so many authority figures.

"Miss Granger, would you care to explain why this missing broomstick was found in your trunk, in the state that it is in?" Professor McGonagall, her lips white and pressed into a thin line, her nostrils flaring in anger, demanded of the red faced girl.

"It was already like that." Ginny jumped in quickly.

"So you were involved in this too, Miss Weasley?"

"I can assure you that my son's broom was not in this state when he came to school just a month before it was stolen. I have pictures of him playing on it with Draco in the Quidditch pitch at the manor and it is in perfect condition with not a single tail twig out of place. Harry takes incredibly good care of his broomstick as it was a gift to him by someone very special and he treasures it deeply."

"I…I have the kit up in my trunk, I service this broom at least once a week, sometimes twice. It means so much to me, which is why I desperately wanted it back, but this…this is severe damage. The tail is ruined, the licence numbers have been severely scratched, likely to hide that it is my broomstick, though as the only one in this school with this broom, I can't see how that would have worked, and the handle could be compromised. This is deliberate damage and defacement and I won't stand for it."

"How much will it take to fix the broom?" One governor asked.

Harry swallowed down the tears and the anger that were both battling for dominancy.

"It'll have to be sent off so that it can be professionally evaluated by the company that made it and that won't be cheap, the entire tail could need replacing and the licencing needs to be smoothened out and re-engraved. I'm looking at a hefty bill of a couple hundred Galleons and that's only if the tail can be salvaged. If it can't, or if the handle is at all compromised, then it might not even be worth it to fix all of the damage. It would have to be fully replaced with a new broom and then it would lose all of the sentimental value that it holds for me."

Harry was so torn between utter devastation at what had happened to the Firebolt that Sirius had given to him and such furious anger at his former friends that his vision had tunnelled until all he could see were the faces of his house mates, four people that just last year he had called his friends, including two people who had been his very best friends in the world.

A hand landed on his shoulder and he flinched away from it, startled. He looked over his shoulder to see Dumbledore stood behind him. His bitter, hostile anger flared colder and his head started searing in pain. He gasped and raised a hand to the scar on his forehead and he pressed against it hard.

Lucius was there then, with a handkerchief and a furious anger in his eyes as he glared at Dumbledore.

"What did you do to my son?" He demanded coldly as Harry was pulled away from Dumbledore, his hand was peeled from his forehead and Lucius looked at his bleeding scar, pressing his handkerchief over it again.

"This is Voldemort's doing." Dumbledore insisted to the worried governors. "Harry's scar often hurts him when Voldemort is being active and it has bled before."

"Stop lying!" Harry shouted out. "Stop feeding me these lies, you're always lying to me! This happened when you touched me! I didn't even have a headache or anything before you touched me!"

Lucius squeezed him tightly, warning him to calm himself down and keep his composure, even as he kept pressure on his forehead.

"Keep your temper; you are revealing more than you know in your anger." Lucius whispered into his ear.

"You know that this is Voldemort's fault." Dumbledore told him.

"You were always telling us that it was _his_ fault when your scar was hurting you, Harry." Hermione spoke up quietly.

Harry gritted his teeth. "You have no right to speak to me or to use my given name. I told you what I was told by the headmaster, I only knew what he was telling me, but he's lying about it, this happened when he touched me, he did something to me."

"This is unacceptable, Dumbledore." One of the governors said angrily. "This child is _bleeding_ after you touched him, just what is going on in this school?!"

"I assure you, governor Lettna, I did no such thing. This type of event is common for Harry."

"Nothing like this has happened in the seven weeks that he has been with me over this summer and he has been fine for the first two months of the school term." Lucius hissed. "It is very strange, I think, that he has had this type of reaction just as you touch him."

Harry just stood there and allowed the governors and Dumbledore to fight it out in the middle of the Gryffindor common room. He went back to his ruined Firebolt and looked at it sadly, even as Lucius' hand cupped a handkerchief to his forehead. It seemed to him that his friends had repeated bashed and forced the tail into the floor at a vertical angle, snapping the perfectly sleek, honed birch tail twigs, making an utter mess of them when he'd done nothing but groom and clip them since he'd received the broomstick. It was sickening what they'd done to something that had meant so, so much to him. He would never forgive them for this. Never.

"Come Harry, we shall send this broomstick off immediately and whatever the bill, those involved will share the cost of that as well. My my, I wonder if your parents can even afford that, young Weasleys. The cost of destroying all of Harry's school things and I having to replace them was going to be hefty enough, but a Firebolt in this condition to repair as well, that is going to cost excessively."

"You can afford to buy it yourself!" Ron exploded.

"Why should my Father have to?" Harry demanded furiously. "Whether rich or poor, it was still you who destroyed all of my things and they all had to be replaced. You need to take responsibility for what you did and if you couldn't afford to replace it, then you shouldn't have destroyed it all in the first place!"

"There is no need to lose your temper, Harry. Not over such a matter as this." Lucius told him with a sniff. "At least now we know what happened to your broom and we can have it repaired, no matter the cost."

Harry nodded and allowed himself to be led away, going to the Owlery where he could send off his broom to be repaired. It was only once they were actually in the semi-privacy of the Owlery that he let two hot tears slide down his cheeks.

Lucius sighed. "Why are you crying? It will be fixed within a month. I'll make sure of it."

Harry shook his head. "I know that. It's just…Sirius gave me this, I've loved it as I loved him and now he's gone, so I…"

"You cling to the broom in his place." Lucius surmised as Harry fell silent.

Harry nodded. "Now it looks like this and it's all going to be replaced and it won't be the broom that he gave to me anymore, the parts of it that he actually touched with his own hands will be removed and replaced."

"The handle is still intact, it doesn't look to be compromised and ebony wood is very hard and dense, thus it takes considerable force to damage. It is only really the licencing that needs to be re-engraved and the tail twigs need to be replaced, he would have still held this broom in his hands, he still paid for it with his own money and the intent behind the gesture will not diminish merely because it needs to be serviced. He still loved you enough to buy this broom for you, he still wanted you to have it and you will have it back once it has been repaired. The memories attached to it will not leave you."

Harry sniffled and he nodded his head. "I understand, I just hate seeing something so precious to me like this."

"Then let us send it off and be gone with this upsetting sight."

Harry nodded again and handed the Firebolt to Lucius, who used one of the numerous school owls to send the broomstick off to the manufactures company, Ellerby and Spudmore.

He watched the large owl carry off the ruined broomstick with a note written by Lucius about what had happened to it and what he wished to be done about it. Harry swallowed hard when it was finally out of sight and he turned back to Lucius, his face now dry of the few tears that had fallen.

"I have so few things to remember the people I love by." He said softly. "When anyone damages those things, I get so angry and I lose control of my emotions. I'm sorry for that."

Lucius nodded. "I understand quite well, Harry, there is no need to apologise. I have only ever struck Draco in malice once in my life and he was just a boy, no more than six. He idolised me, as I believe he might still, but he often played with my jewellery and my dress robes. I would come home to find him in one of my most expensive robes, trailing it behind him and walking all over the internal fabric, wearing my chains and rings that were much too big for him. I never minded and it used to amuse me, so I never thought to stop him. He found a lock box of mine in a cupboard out of his reach and he'd gotten our house elf, Dobby, to open it for him and as I had never told him not to open it, the elf did as he was told. Inside was a rather ancient family heirloom, dating back hundreds of years to Armand Malfoy. The gold was pure, meaning it was very soft and malleable and in the hands of a six year old, it did not last for very long until it broke. I was so furious that something so precious to my family, that had become so precious to me, had been broken by anyone, that I actually struck Draco across the face. Of course such an action had severe consequences, none more so than my Wife threatening to take our son and leave me. I regret what I did to my own son, but when I saw the ruined heirloom, I didn't even think before I acted. It is one of only a handful of times where I have acted without thought and it has served to remind me exactly how important it is to think before I act. I am unsure whether Draco remembers the incident or not, but he never played with my jewellery again and he never dressed up in my robes again and just a few months later, he hit another person for the first time, Astoria Greengrass. I have a feeling that that was a direct consequence of what I'd done months earlier to him, but I could never be sure if it was a coincidence or not."

Harry had no idea what to say about that, so he stayed silent and held his tongue. Lucius ran a large hand over his shoulder and squeezed.

"Come, I think I'll spend an hour or so with you and Draco and check over all of your school assignments to make sure that you're exercising your full abilities."

"I am! I swear I am. I even considered dropping myself from the Quidditch team, though now I won't…I'm going to make that team the best I can and I'll do it on a school broom if I have to!"

Lucius smiled at him. "Strength of character…good. Keep that up and you might find yourself making something of yourself, now come along, I don't have endless amounts of time to spend here and I do want to spend some time with you and Draco before I have to leave."

Harry nodded and he turned on his heel and he followed Lucius out of the Owlery. He took the man to the library, where he found Draco and Blaise waiting for them with their homework spread out already. Harry settled himself down and he very much enjoyed the time that he spent with the three, even if it was just doing homework in the dusty school library.

* * *

><p>Lucius sighed as he received the breakdown invoice from Ellerby and Spudmore. The Firebolt was in a bad way, but he had been correct, the ebony handle was not compromised and there were no fractures or splinters which could possibly cause a fatal accident for Harry if he flew it, it didn't need to be replaced. The birch tail twigs, however, were another matter entirely. They were unable to be salvaged and had needed to be completely stripped from the broom and fully replaced. The golden engraving of Harry's personal licencing numbers had been professionally retouched without damaging the broom handle and Lucius was very pleased. Very much so, especially after he'd seen exactly how much these services were going to cost.<p>

He had made sure to inform the Minister of the incident in the form of small talk, which wasn't actually small talk at all but a perfectly placed, well thought out plantation of subtle information meant to discredit the Weasleys and Dumbledore under the guise of meaningless small talk about his adopted son, who just so happened to be Harry Potter, a boy that everyone was very interested in.

"Darling, I was making up Draco's monthly treat package and had the thought to make one for our Harry too, do you think he would prefer a gift card from Quality Quidditch Supplies or a subscription to Which Broomstick?"

Lucius smiled and turned to look at his Wife, who was taking to Harry like a Grindylow to water.

"I believe that he would much prefer a subscription to The Quibbler, Dear. I have seen him reading it on occasion and I believe that it amuses him greatly. Lovegood is a friend of his."

"Are you sure that that girl is still talking to him? Draco says that since the start of the school year, our Harry has been very isolated from his house as they reacted very badly to his adoption."

"I'm sure that given the chance they would still interact. They are in different houses, I believe that Xenophilius' daughter was sorted into Ravenclaw and she has never reacted normally or with the general masses. I don't believe that such a thing as a mere adoption would phase her and it might help to remind our Harry that he does still have friends, if he cares to look for them a little harder."

Narcissa nodded and filled out the owl subscription form.

"Did Harry seem settled when you last saw him? I hate what Draco is telling us is happening to him in that school."

"He seemed settled and well adjusted, Dear. Just angry. I have no ideas on where such crippling anger comes from within him. It doesn't seem natural how he flares up so quickly and easily and certainly not within his character."

"His Mother was always fiery tempered."

"She was and I'm not saying that Harry might not have inherited that fiery temper, but this anger he carries seems to swallow him, it blinds him with fury until he can't even think straight. Such a thing is terrifying to consider, but all the same, I do not believe that it is normal."

"Perhaps we should have him tested by a Healer then, especially after this revelation about his…previous _guardians_."

Lucius' lips pulled into a sneer, as they always did these days when Harry's mistreatment by mere muggles was brought up. He hadn't had the chance to talk to Harry about it while he was at the school, he'd only been there for a short time and Harry had been upset and angry already, but winter was rapidly approaching and he'd have both boys home for the holidays, he would speak to Harry about it then. He would not allow any mistreatment of his sons to stand. It was why he had taken out the vile Madam Umbridge at the very first opportunity that arose. Her trial would be happening in the New Year and he couldn't wait until he could destroy her indefinitely.

Of course it helped that he had regained his position as a Hogwarts governor and chairman of the board as well. He'd seen to it that Dumbledore was kicked out of the Ministry, which could only be credited to Harry himself for claiming his rightful Lordships, he himself had the Minister's ear and now he had considerable control over Hogwarts too. He would ruin Dumbledore and he was sure that once he was ruined and not trusted by the wizarding public anymore, his Lord would destroy him once and for all, leaving their path completely clear with only the odd bump due to the remaining Order of the Phoenix members.

The Ministry was now being cleaned out. Madam Umbridge was currently in a Ministry holding cell, waiting for a trial that would see the unpalatable woman stripped of all dignity and prestige and sent to Azkaban to rot where she belonged. Lucius knew that others would soon follow.

Harry had set in motion a series of events that would see a new reform blossom, much sooner than they ever would have been able to implement without him.

He was personally very pleased with the way things were progressing and he knew that his Lord was too. There had been a few, very subtle, assassinations over the last month, a disappearance here, an 'accidental' death there and everything was falling into place. They were swiftly and smoothly moving into the place that they needed to be and it was all because he had had the forethought to put aside his own thoughts and feelings and adopt a neglected, and according to recent information abused, boy who was clueless, lost and alone.

He had snatched up the Boy-Who-Lived and he had worked and worked on the boy to bring his, rather sharp and analytical, mind around to his way of thinking and it had worked. Only now, after getting to know Harry personally and not through books, rumours, scathing reports or through the jealous gossip of his own son, he found that Harry was completely different to how he had once believed him to be. Surprisingly sharp and adept, he was more intelligent than he had thought, and definitely more open minded too.

He had expected a fuss, the boy had had his world turned upside down and he had lost his beloved Godfather on top of everything that he had learnt at Gringotts, but the things that Harry had chosen to kick up a fuss over hadn't been the things that he had expected him to have reacted to.

He had had a harder time managing Harry's day to day behaviour than he had over the betrothal contract. He had had more of a challenge getting Harry to respond to receiving gifts, mere trivial things like books and clothes than he had over being a Death Eater loyal to the Dark Lord. It was very strange and he had to wonder if it all stemmed from the revelation of abuse by those muggles that Harry had been forced to live with just because Dumbledore didn't want to raise the boy himself, yet couldn't risk anyone else becoming Harry's magical guardian because then he would lose all of his power and prestige with the Ministry. Most notably he would have lost the Wizengamot seats for the Lord Potter and the Lord Black, and he had needed those seats, especially after he had been stripped of his title of Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards the previous year. The Wizengamot seats had been all that he'd had left by the way of power in the Ministry and thanks to Harry, he had lost those too.

He was worried about Harry being in Hogwarts. He'd talked it over with the Lestranges and his Lord, but with all the other upheavals that Harry had faced lately, removing him from Hogwarts was probably not the best way to go. Yet with Dumbledore's loss of influence in the Ministry, and now that he was once again a governor of Hogwarts and the chairman of the board, Dumbledore was going to start losing influence at the school as well and once the public turned against him, then he would be nothing and he worried that Harry would be in danger because of that, especially if Severus was right and Dumbledore was insistent on forcing Harry to fight by any means necessary.

He had been, they had _all_ been, charged with protecting Harry. He had gone from a priority target, to being their primary mission, and it wasn't to capture him, but to protect him and because of Harry's cooperation and his open mindedness on dealing with everything that had happened, everything was moving along that much more smoothly. It made a wonderful contrast to a few months ago where they were hitting snags in most of their plans and the boy himself had blockaded their way in the Ministry itself. He had to admit, even with Dumbledore still in the picture and the Order of the Phoenix still active, with Harry out of the way everything was falling into place and he felt more relaxed and confident that his life views would soon become law and as a plus, he finally had a second child to care for.

He loved Draco, his son was the embodiment of his love and care and he had always done and would always do his all for him, despite the few hiccups they had experienced over the years. But he and Narcissa had tried for a second child four or five years after Draco's birth, but after all the necessary tests, he had found that he had a very low sperm count that was getting lower with his increasing age and thus, at just thirty-one he would be unable to conceive another child and it would be unlikely that Draco would have more than one or two children himself.

This opportunity had been a blessing to his family really, not only because of Harry's social standing, his rare bearing abilities and his two Lordships, but because he and Narcissa had always wanted a second child and now they had that opportunity.

It was difficult because Harry was already a teenager, it had now emerged that he had been neglected and abused, to what extent he didn't know yet, but such a thing disgusted him and he would sort this out for his adoptive son. Things would have been much easier if this had been done a decade before, when Harry was still a small boy, but he had been shaped by abuse and manipulation and as a result of that, he was damaged and angry and he naturally lashed out.

Lucius sighed as he filed away the invoice from Ellerby and Spudmore in a file that he had created just for Harry. It was getting quite full already and it had only been four months since he had adopted the boy. But of course between the actual adoption papers, the betrothal contract, the Healer's papers on his fertility and bearing abilities, the documentation of the neglect by his previous magical guardian, all of the relevant paperwork, like Harry's birth certificate and his Healers notes on his vaccinations (that he had been appalled to see hadn't been completed, which he would rectify as soon as possible.) as well as the case that he had built against Umbridge and the case he would now build against his former relatives, the file was getting very full.

He would help Harry with his anger issues, he would help him with anything that he needed and now that they were all on the same side, there didn't need to be any animosity between them, they could make this work. He and Narcissa could have the second child that they had always wanted, as well as a sibling for Draco, and Harry could have the family and structure that he so obviously needed. They could be good together, they could be a family until such a time that he handed Harry over to Rabastan as a Husband. That day would be sooner rather than later as well if all the signs and indications had been read correctly, he just hoped that Rabastan was ready to handle Harry when the time came.

* * *

><p>Harry grinned as he thought about his new, private, rooms which was more like a small apartment. He had four rooms all to himself. A living room cum kitchenette, a bedroom, a bathroom and a study room that was the smallest room, but had three bookshelves, and a study desk where he could do his homework.<p>

Dumbledore hadn't wanted to let him have it, not at all, but the governors had bullied him into it and had insisted that it was necessary for his own protection due to the hostility shown to him by his own dorm mates. They had insisted that they couldn't allow him to remain in a dorm room where he was in constant danger of being attacked, so they had forced Dumbledore to remove him from the Gryffindor dorm rooms and he now had his own rooms on the fourth floor.

Draco and Blaise were both very jealous and they spent a lot of time over the next few days around at his rooms and they often spent their free time doing their homework at his coffee table with drinks and snacks from his stocked kitchenette that the house elves stocked every day for him with fresh food, fruit, tea and juice. It was enough for snacks, but he didn't really have anything in the way of making a full meal for himself, so he couldn't avoid going to the Great Hall for meal times, but outside of that and lessons, then he spent most of his time in his rooms.

His Firebolt had been returned to him better than brand new in record time thanks to Lucius influence and the knowledge that it was Harry Potter's broomstick and he'd been assured that the handle hadn't been touched, except for the high quality varnish and polish that it had been given after the re-engraving of his personal license number. It was so polished that it gleamed and Harry was so happy, knowing that this handle was the same one that Sirius had touched with his own hands.

The first Quidditch game of the season was rapidly approaching and Harry was so excited as he tested out his broom on his own to make sure that it worked as well as he remembered. He sped up and down the Quidditch pitch, pushing the broom as hard as he could, urging it to go faster and faster, turning at the last moment on a hairpin. It reacted to him just as he remembered, as if the broom was reading his thoughts instead of his body movements it was that sensitive and he flew around the Quidditch pitch for hours, just reconnecting with the broom that he hadn't been able to fly for the last month and a half. He practised his diving and all of his manoeuvres and he felt so much better.

The icy anger that had plagued him for the last several weeks had left him up here in the air and in the clouds and he felt relaxed and happy and able to think again.

He touched back down gently and shouldered his broom and he headed back to the castle when he started feeling a little chilled. It was November after all and it was getting late, dark and cold.

He made it to his rooms and he collapsed onto his settee with a groan, broomstick in hand. He couldn't bring himself to let it go just yet. The quiet of his rooms relaxed him and he closed his eyes to savour it, at least until Hedwig joined him and nibbled on his ear.

"Hey girl, how are you?" He asked her as he stroked her head and beautiful plumage. "It's been a while since we had a moment to ourselves."

Hedwig clicked her beak at him and Harry smiled, relieving her of her burden and grinning widely as she walked along the chair to perch on his leg. She clicked insistently at him and he chucked as he resumed his grooming of her soft feathers.

He put his broomstick beside him and opened the letter one handed. There were three other envelopes in the first and he looked at them excitedly, knowing that one of them had to be from Rabastan. He was right, he recognised the shaky letters on the second envelope caused by Rabastan's weakened muscles and his cramps and he dived on it immediately.

He opened this letter quickly, taking his hand away from Hedwig before shaking the parchment out and letting his hand fall back to her feathers as he quickly read the letter that had been sent to him. He could see that Rabastan had really tried when writing this letter, but it was immediately apparent where Rabastan's arm had jerked out of his control and he had scored the parchment with his quill, leaving long lines of black ink.

Harry still read the letter and he couldn't help grinning like a loon, a warm feeling filling up his insides as he read it through several times. He liked hearing that Rabastan was missing him and that he had loved the cuff links that Harry had gifted to him and how he couldn't wait until they could spend more time together during the winter holidays.

He hated that Rabastan had apologised for his shaky, often illegible, cursive and the jerked lines through the writing. He'd definitely have to sort that out once he went home for the holidays, he wouldn't have Rabastan apologising for the damage done to him by Azkaban, it wasn't his fault and he couldn't control it. He was already doing everything that he could to rectify the damage done, he was on a very strict dietary plan, he was taking all sorts of potions and doing all sorts of strengthening exercises to help himself. He was doing everything that he possibly could and Harry would not have him apologising for anything because he knew it was going to take years for the damage to heal, it wouldn't happen over days, weeks or even months, but years and it was all thanks to Azkaban.

He hated that fucking prison with a furious passion, it was unnatural and inhumane and there was no going back if an innocent person was put in that hell hole like Sirius had been, they came out just as fucking damaged and no amount of Galleons thrown at them in the form of 'compensation' helped the years' worth of recovery and therapy that was needed to try and rectify the damage that had been done. That prison really needed to be sorted out and those damn Dementors needed to be cleaned out. Azkaban had ruined two people that he cared about greatly, three if Rodolphus was counted as well, as he got on well with his future brother-in-law, not to mention how badly the Dementors affected him as well. He could only imagine Azkaban as hell on Earth and it needed to be addressed and sorted out.

"I'll make him better, Hedwig." He said into the silent room. "I didn't really understand with Sirius. I was only thirteen and though I knew the effects of the Dementors, I passed out before they had much of a chance to torture me. I didn't understand the effects and certainly not the long term effects of what being in Azkaban meant. I have a better idea now that I'm older. Sirius was innocent and he could cling to that, he had Padfoot to use as an escape and I know now that he hid a lot from me because I was so young and he didn't want me to worry. Looking back on it now, I can see the pain as he moved, I saw the haunted eyes and the gaunt face and the emaciated body, even though he'd been staying in Grimmauld Place. Though thinking on it that probably wouldn't have helped him either. He suffered through that for twelve years, Rabastan and Rodolphus suffered for fifteen years, that's as long as I was stuck at the Dursleys. They were in prison though, with the Dementors and I couldn't imagine going through that day after day, year after year. They have to be some of the strongest men I know, just to even survive that place. I know most people get sick and die or they stop eating or they just straight out commit suicide, but they never gave up, they didn't commit suicide or stop eating. They clung to something, for Sirius it was hope and the knowledge that he was innocent, but what did Rabastan and Rodolphus have? They were guilty, they did torture the Longbottoms into insanity, so what made them cling to life?"

Hedwig hooted and Harry sighed as he dug his fingers into her feathers and scratched down the full length of her body and his lovely owl clicked happily in pleasure of the action.

"I suppose I'll never know now, I'm not as tactless as to ask. Though maybe in a few years, when their imprisonment isn't quite so raw, I'll see if I'll get an answer then, but I won't hold my breath for it."

Harry sighed again heavily and he sent Hedwig off. It was getting dark and she'd want to hunt soon. He put Rabastan's letter back in its envelope and left it on the table as he turned to the other two that had arrived. One was from Lucius, just generally asking after him and if he was alright, which Harry found difficult to admit, but it made his chest tighten with unfamiliar emotions.

He swallowed as the letter choked him up a little and he viciously shoved it aside. What the hell was wrong with him lately? First the sudden, icy anger, now he was getting choked up and weepy because Lucius had sent him a letter. He was sure that someone was messing with his food, but the house elves of Hogwarts were under a contracted oath to never, ever put anything in the students food. The serious binding oath had been administered to all Hogwarts elves in eighteen-forty-three after some nut case in Ravenclaw had invented a new poison and had tested it out on all the students who had bullied her by asking the elves to put the poison in their food, claiming it was a harmless prank. It had killed fourteen people and had made twenty-seven others seriously sick. The Governors at the time had forced the oath on the poor house elves and it still remained to this day. So no, Harry wasn't worried about anyone playing with his food or drink, but with how he was feeling lately, he could well believe that someone had been slipping him potions.

The third letter was written in unfamiliar cursive, but it had been forwarded to him by Lucius, so he trusted it, to an extent.

The neat, elegant words were even spaced on the parchment and there was no signature to speak of at the bottom of the letter, even Rabastan, who obviously couldn't put his signature on anything, especially nothing that he sent to him, left an elaborate letter 'R' at the end of the parchment. It was always perfect, as if Rabastan forced himself to do at least that right when the actual letter was a mass of shaky scrawls, jerked lines and unintentional ink blots.

Harry read the letter through and he gritted his teeth as he realised exactly why this letter didn't need a signature…he knew _exactly_ who this was and his hands physically ached to tear it into tiny fucking shreds that he would throw into his living room fire. He didn't though. He controlled himself and breathed deeply and as calmly as he could through the urges to tear up the letter. He was surprised somewhere in the back of his mind that the anger he was feeling was warm and passionate, not the sudden, icy cold explosive anger that he had been feeling recently.

The letter itself would have been quite innocent, had it not been for the person who had wrote it. Voldemort himself was asking after his health and wellbeing, though he was sure that that was just 'social niceties' as he had phrased it two years ago in that Graveyard when he had forced him to bow before their duel. His real reason for writing was very clear further down, when he started ask…no, demanding, he couldn't see the Dark Lord asking anything of anyone, after his thoughts, feelings and his motivations.

Voldemort insisted that he just wanted to be sure of his stance, that he wanted to be sure that he wouldn't interfere or get in the way of his plans. Harry ground his teeth together and clenched his hands, crumpling the letter in his one fist.

He had been doing his best to ignore the pink elephant as the expression went, but Voldemort had stripped that away by directly contacting him and Harry knew the red eyed bastard would expect a reply as soon as possible as well. He couldn't help but wonder if this was another goddamned test as well or maybe it was just another level of the same test. He hadn't reacted to Lucius talking of the Dark Lord at Malfoy Manor, he hadn't reacted to being betrothed to a loyal Death Eater, hell he hadn't even really kicked up much of a fuss about living with and being adopted by a Death Eater, so were they now testing him further?

He couldn't stand the situation he was in, he hated that he had been forced here, into this position and it was all down to Dumbledore. He may have hated Voldemort, but at the moment he hated Dumbledore even more. This situation was all kinds of wrong and he didn't like it, but he had no one left! What was he supposed to do as the adults all fought over him like a mere possession just because he had been indicated in a prophecy and had survived when he damn well shouldn't have? His options had been limited before, but now, thanks to what he'd found out in Gringotts, he had even less options now than he'd had before.

He could have chosen to ignore all that he had learnt, though the anger he carried within him, which was slowly fermenting into resentment, would have made that incredibly difficult. How did one forgive and forget something of that magnitude? The abuse, the neglect, the lies and the manipulations. The complete disregard for him as an actual person, the theft of his birth right, the little games that could have easily killed him over the years…all to prepare him for his future purpose of course. He couldn't do it, he couldn't face off against someone so powerful, so much older than himself. He was sixteen and he was sure that he didn't know a fraction of what Voldemort had stored up in his arsenal over the decades. He would not be anyone's lamb to the slaughter, he didn't care what the reason was. There was always another way. No, he could never have forgiven and forgotten what Dumbledore had done to him. He just couldn't.

Of course he could have struck off on his own. He certainly had enough money for it, but again, he was only sixteen. What would he do? Where would he go? He had had no idea how to buy a house, he didn't know how to run one or how to pay bills. He couldn't ward his new house as he didn't know how to, he hadn't even known if he was even _allowed_ to buy a house while he was still a minor! All he would be able to do was cook and clean, because that's all the Dursleys had taught him in his fifteen year stay with them. He had _needed_ someone to take him in and teach him how to do everything on his own.

He certainly would not have chosen Lucius Malfoy of all people to be the one to take him in, but he had been the only one actually willing to take him in and the man had started to teach him everything that he'd wanted to know about everything. All he had to do was ask and suddenly a new stack of books would be delivered to him by a house elf and if he had any questions after reading them, all he had to do was ask them. It was a foreign concept after the Dursleys, it had taken him a while to get into the rhythm of it, so to speak, where he would read the books given to him and then question Lucius on the things that he was unsure about. He even had his knowledge retention tested when Lucius asked him questions in turn to make sure that the information he had read had gotten through and stuck in his mind. He was _learning_ at the Malfoy home and it was everything that wasn't taught in Hogwarts that he actually needed to know in order to live a normal, independent life!

It was as if Dumbledore didn't expect him to live, so teaching him anything on how to be an independent adult would have been just a massive waste of time and it was that more than anything that panicked Harry and made him cling to the Malfoy family, and even to Rabastan, tighter. He wanted to live, he wanted his own family and his own life. He didn't want to die!

He couldn't just forgive and forget what Dumbledore had done and he'd needed someone to teach him what he needed to know to live a normal life, being adopted, or even just taken in by someone, really was the only option he'd had where he sort of got what he wanted and got exactly what he needed.

No, he would never have chosen Lucius Malfoy of all people, but after seven weeks spent in his home and four months now of being 'a Malfoy' he had to admit that it really wasn't that bad. He was happy, he was looked after, everything he needed or wanted was given to him, he was a lot more protected now and he had a family to call his own. Things could have been better, he knew that, but looking back at where he had come from, he also knew that things could also be a hell of a lot worse. He was happy with the Malfoy family and he was very happy with Rabastan. Things would work out for him, because he'd force them to if he had to and it was with that thought that he got out his parchment and ink and he calmly and cleverly replied to his three letters. If they were testing him, he wouldn't let them win, and if they were just genuinely curious and concerned for his wellbeing and his stance on things, as difficult as that thought was to believe, well, so much the better.

* * *

><p>AN: This chapter was giving me some trouble, even after I'd written it and moved onto chapter six, I still didn't like it. So the other week I actually deleted the entire thing and started again from the very beginning. It was only 9,000 words and now it's almost 13,000, so obviously it needed to be scrapped and re-written and I am much happier with the result, so I do hope that all of you lovelies enjoyed it too.

Thank you to **Missing Jade Snake** for being the **500****th**** reviewer** of this story.

**ptl4ever419: **Dumbledore's hand was forced and he had to tell the Order the contents of the Prophecy in order to explain why it had to be Harry who fought Voldemort. He hasn't told them the whole of the Prophecy however, just the pieces that he wanted them to know and that he could use to twist their minds around the idea that they need to force Harry to fight.

**luvbiwal**: Harry will not be getting a resort, but he has got his own rooms now, so that's sort of the same thing, but he is still a Gryffindor as an actual resort is impossible. I'm sure though at some point it will come out that Harry talked himself out of Slytherin. Bill will actually become an enemy, its Charlie I'm thinking of making Harry's only ally from the Weasley family as he can be explained away much more easily with his choice to live and work in Romania and his seeming reluctance to go back to the Burrow over the years. But originally I was going to make the entire family against Harry, it's only because the lovelies on my Facebook page pleaded with me that I even considered making Charlie an ally, so he'll be the only one.

**Guest**: You are picking up on some of Voldemort coming through in Harry, yes and as you can see from the end of this chapter, Harry is definitely not going to let bygones be bygones where Voldemort is concerned. There is going to be a bit of friction and a few clashes here and there too, but they are on the same side, but in Harry's view, he can deal with that as long as it isn't rubbed in his face, so Voldemort sending him a letter pissed him off as he was very happy to just ignore Voldemort.

There is a sort of secrecy oath that all members of the Wizengamot members sign, but it doesn't prevent them from talking about anything, it's a contract that they sign when they become a member which lays out exactly what will happen to them if they are found to have spoken of anything of the Wizengamot meetings to someone who isn't a member, which as you can imagine, would put off most people as it is actually life in Azkaban. So Bill is actually risking a hell of a lot by agreeing to become a member and to relay all information back to Dumbledore. If he's caught, or even just suspected, he'll be up on trial and faces life in prison, but there isn't anything that will actually force the Wizengamot members to hold their tongues, only the threat of Azkaban.

**EverettEvan99**: I like sticking to canon as much as possible and as I do put Harry in relationships, I do usually start the stories when he's sixteen, which is the legal age for sexual consent in Britain, which does mean that Sirius has already died. Obviously in this fic I needed Sirius dead in order to have Harry become the Black Heir, but usually it's an unconscious decision where I am just sticking to canon.

**Of Stories Told**: Dumbledore asked if Harry had signed anything because he was worried that Lucius would have gotten Harry to sign something that would have magically binded him to remain out of the war. It was the same concern that Lucius had in Gringotts about Dumbledore. I found it amusing to switch the same concern around to both men. As for the lemon drop, Dumbledore asks people randomly if they want one to throw them off their train of thoughts to hopefully cause them to slip up and give out information that they're holding back.

As for Bill, if he's even suspected of talking about the meetings outside of the other Wizengamot members, then he'll be charged, he'll have a trial and he'll find himself spending up to a life sentence in Azkaban. I hate the lot of them though, they are being hypocrites in this fic and my heart aches for poor Harry. You hit the nail on the head though, he hasn't even thought of Grimmauld Place or thought that the Order might still be using it…especially not to plot his own death, or he would have already told Lucius and gotten them evicted.  
>I can't wait for you lovelies to read Harry and Rabastan's reunion though! It's the winter holidays now as far as I've written and Harry is home and Rabastan is there and it's utterly delicious!<p>

Thank you so much for your review, it made me smile and feel so appreciated as a writer, this chapter's for you, I think that makes two dedication in five chapters now, you're going for a record!

**fairygirl90**: Snape was playing both Voldemort and Dumbledore. He was looking out for his own skin, so he was playing each side in a way that saved himself. He is not truly on either side and he was waiting to see who was going to come out on top before he'd even consider truly declaring allegiance to anyone. With Harry now sided with Voldemort, there is no way in hell that Dumbledore can win, so the only outcome is in Voldemort's favour, so I suppose that means that Snape has finally made up his mind on where his true allegiance will lie in order to save his own skin.

Well, there were quite a few review responses for this, but I hope that I've cleared a few things up, including the questions about Neville and Luna which were actually quite numerous!

I'll see you lovelies again soon, but until then I hope you read, enjoy and review and join me on Facebook as well,

StarLight Massacre. X


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